God's Strength Revealed Through Weakness
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”
SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER
REV. BERNADETTE TOWERS
As I ponder on scripture that has seen me through some of the most difficult times in my life. The most recent is 2 Corinthians 12:9; “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (NKJV). In all the years I have served God, I am now understanding this verse with newfound respect as it brings revelation into my own personal life. In June of 2016, I became very ill and have experienced recurrences of the illness ever since. This illness has become a thorn in my side and has caused me to have many difficult times, often, the illness would weaken me in body; as it happened this past December, the illness resurfaced. However, I do not want to focus on the struggle because the struggle doesn’t matter. We all go through times of difficulty and struggle. What matters is my focus on God’s grace and the power of Christ, on how the Lord is faithful and always keeps His promises.
During these past several weeks, I have experienced a deeper level of grace and have found the meaning to be more than unmerited favor. I found the presence of God so much stronger in my life than ever before. Especially on days I could not get out of bed in the morning or would find myself in bed by 5:15 pm. At the beginning of this month, I attended a retreat with the youth group of my local church. I was going to cancel and give my seat to another, but God stopped me. I kept hearing “Saturday Morning,” in my spirit. However, I still had concerns about my health and wanted to back out. I was fighting with my flesh and focusing on how I physically felt at that moment. And to be completely honest, I was frightened to go. I had a visit with my doctors a couple of days before and she believed I needed to get away, to get out of my circumstance in order to take my thoughts and focus off what I was enduring. While praying about it, I heard “Saturday Morning,” in my sprit once again and decided to go. I put my fears and the feelings of my flesh aside and trusted and believed that God was going to do something. When we arrived on Friday night, I was not well in my body and I was not thinking too kindly towards my doctor. I was even upset with God.
But God, oh, how kind He is! He whispered into my spirit “Saturday Morning,” and immediately, I felt His peace surround me. When I awoke on Saturday, I was still struggling but God’s grace was all around me and He gave me courage to push forward and to make it to the service.
What an experience! It was so amazing and beautiful! I do not believe my words can properly articulate what truly transpired between Jesus and myself, but I will do my best; my experience happened during praise and worship on Saturday morning (God is faithful!). As I was praising God, a deep warmness came over me then I felt an embrace. A real embrace. When I opened my eyes, no one was there. I began to weep uncontrollably and could not stop. That’s when I had a vision; I saw Jesus coming towards me. He placed His loving arms around me and pulled me in close to His heart. I felt a deep love and comfort that I had never felt or experienced before. I suddenly saw a vision of Jesus holding an adult and as I looked, I saw myself. I was so in awe seeing this. Imagine being embraced. Now image Jesus embracing you--we truly cannot fathom how great He is, nor His depth nor height. At this moment, He spoke softly and gently into my ear, “Rest my daughter, rest in Me.” I could not stop crying or praising God. To think, that Jesus would come to me in such an intimate way as this! Now please understand, I have been serving God for 22 years and I have a great personal and intimate relationship with Him. I have been in His amazing presence before, but never like this. Saturday morning will forever be on my mind and engraved into my heart!
In addition to this vision and embrace from Jesus, He also sent a woman of God from my church to encourage me. And encourage me she did! She also told me that God wanted me to rest in Him. That this illness I was going through was a process. Later that night, during altar call as I was sitting in my seat, praying and praising God, a man of God from my church prayed for me. I could feel the strength begin to flow into my body. On Sunday night, on our way home from the retreat, the youth pastor also prayed for me. At that very moment, I began to feel the overall physical healing begin.
Last night in our overflow service, yet another Godly woman came to me, reminded me to rest, and prayed for me. Not only that, the pastor and many others came and prayed for me. How very blessed I am! I feel the compelled to proclaim the amazing love of God, of our Lord Jesus.
I also need to confess; I hid this illness for over three years. I did not want people to see me as weak or to ask for help due to my shameful pride. I knew God was calling me to rest, but I had been resistant. When I spoke to my pastor the day before going to the retreat, I realized that being weak in the flesh doesn’t mean I am spiritually weak. He helped me realize that there are times when we need to slow down, rest, and recharge. That there are times when we need help and to ask for that help. How many times I have said these very words to others? How ironic is it?
Now as previously stated, I have been pondering 2 Corinthians 12:9 during these past few weeks of this affliction. God’s grace is so much then unmerited favor; it is greater than any words can express. The grace I experienced was a hope and a true knowledge that all things are possible! With each day I grow stronger and wiser in the spirit. I know that I have an army praying for me! That I have God fighting for me! That I cannot lose the battle! That I am always victorious in Christ Jesus! That I am healed! Please, my sisters and my brothers; whatever you may be going through, please keep your faith. Hold on and listen to God, trust him to see you through! I can testify, that in your weakness, God’s strength is made perfect. God tells us that His grace is sufficient; I can say His grace is that and so much more!
The weekend retreat was a miracle for me! I would have to go to bed between 5:15 pm and 8:00 PM from the start of December through the end of January due to this affliction. I slept most Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 am until the next morning. What God did for me He can and will do for you! Be encouraged by my testimony and remember; this too shall pass. And please, do not be afraid to reach out to a friend and be honest about your weakness!