Happy July everyone!
Let's start the month off right by diving into God's word, shall we...?
So in II Corinthians, chapter 10, Paul talks about pride and boasting. He talks about how he is a 'timid' man, but he is bold when it comes to his faith, which I think is truly inspiring. We have to remember our work is not our own. We can do nothing without God, therefore we should boast in him, not ourselves. It's hard to not give yourself credit; we as humans are very egocentrical whether we like to admit it or not. We want recognition for everything we do (well, the good things at least). But the Bible says that recognition is dangerous because it can lead to inflated pride, and we all knows what comes after pride.
In chapter 11, Paul talks to the church about false teaching. He was afraid the Corinthians were not fully focused on loving Christ. Paul said that the church's love for Christ should be that of a virgin saving herself for her husband- pure, unadulterated love. I think that is a beautiful comparison. He also warns against Satan's ways. Satan and his servants can deceive us by appearing to be attractive, good, and moral- something that you might think is Godly could actual be the devil himself. This leads many unsuspecting people to follow smooth-talking, bible0quoting preachers into religious cults or organizations that appear to be good and moral, but are actually destructive and sinful. That is why it is so important for us to have conversations with God everyday. We need to recognize the voice of God like we would our own father. We can't listen to imitators or voices that are "close enough". We have to sit and wait for the still, small voice of God. And let me tell you, it is very still and very small. Which is why we need to be good listeners.
Chapter 12 Paul seems to do a lot of boasting in these chapters, am I right? In this chapter it's about the visions and revelations he has had from the Lord. And while he boasts, he also talks about his "thorn in the flesh", something to keep him humble after receiving visions from God. We're not really sure what his "thorn" was, but we know it was something chronic (and probably very annoying). And although he cried out three times to God (Paul was very precise about how many times he called out), God did not heal him, nut he did say "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Wait, what?
"...my power is made perfect in weakness."
"But, Allycia... Isn't that like, contradictory?" You ask.
"Why yes, yes it is friend." I reply.
But it makes sense. We were made by God, for God. In other words, we were made to need him. We need him. We may go through terrible, heart-wrenching times in our life, but that's okay. As bad as it sounds, it was meant to happen because if it didn't, we wouldn't grow in out faith and relationship with God. That's strangely comforting to me, and I hope it is for you too. Well, maybe not the strange part, but definitely the comforting part.
What do you think? Do you think that is why God allows us to suffer? Apart from free will, he let's us go through these hard times to go close to him?
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