A few months ago I was going through a period where I was having relentless migraine headaches and it was pretty much crippling my life for about a week and a half. During that time I had requested prayer several times. I believe in the power of prayer and I was depending on the Body of Christ to lift me up in prayer as not only was I in pain, but it was severely limiting how much work I could get done. Right after I finally got over those headaches, I was chewed up one side and down the other by a person who told me that I had no faith and that I was displaying weakness as a pastor. He said that a Christian ought not ever confess weakness or illness and to post prayer requests like I did showed that I was not a man of faith. I did not argue, told them that they were entitled to their opinion and let it drop. Just this week I had someone else tell me that this same person had been telling them that I was a weak leader and showed no faith and was talking specifically about my battle with illness. Rather than argue or try to defend myself, I will simply state what God's Word has to say about the matter and let that stand for itself.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 says,
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
No comments:
Post a Comment