THE POWER OF WEAKNESS

by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Acts 18:1-17; 2 Corinthians 11:22-28

Paul pressed ahead through a mind-boggling series of intense hardships. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I have more claim to this title than they. I have worked harder than any of them. I have served more prison sentences! I have been beaten times without number. I have faced death again and again. I have been beaten the regulation thirty-nine stripes by the Jews five times. I have been beaten with rods three times. I have been stoned once. I have been shipwrecked three times. I have been twenty-four hours in the open sea.

In my travels I have been in constant danger from rivers and floods, from bandits, from my own countrymen, and from pagans. I have faced danger in city streets, danger in the desert, danger on the high seas, danger among false Christians. I have known exhaustion, pain, long vigils, hunger and thirst, doing without meals, cold, and lack of clothing.

Apart from all external trials I have the daily burden of responsibility for all the churches.

On top of all that, the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh. The Lord answered his desperate prayers to remove the thorn---whatever it may have been---in a most unexpected manner. The Lord simply answered, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Surprised? "You mean, I don't have to be super strong and endure each trial relying on my own resources?" It's not like that at all. In fact, the only way you qualify to receive His strength is when you admit your weakness, when you admit you're not capable and strong, when, like Paul, you're willing to boast in nothing but your weakness and God's power.

Your Best Defense

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

--James 4:7

When the Bible tells us to "submit to God," and to "resist the devil" (James 4:7), it doesn't mean we are to go out and attack the devil. The devil will do the attacking. The word "resist" is essentially a defensive word meaning "to withstand an attack."

Nor does the Bible say to "converse with the devil and he will flee from us" or to "consider all of the temptations the devil offers, then resist him, and he will flee from us." Once you start messing with sin and with the devil, it is only a matter of time before you get hooked. It is like the free samples you're offered when you walk though the store or the mall. You are given just enough to whet your appetite, but not enough to satisfy it.

The devil has been at this for a long time. He is no idiot; he will not necessarily present his full agenda. Instead, he will say, "Take just a little nibble. Just have a taste for the fun of it. It won't hurt you. Just this one little time." And you know the rest of that story. This is why the Bible tells us to resist the devil. Keep as much distance from him as possible. Flee from temptation and don't leave a forwarding address.

So where do we find the resolve and strength to resist? We need to submit to God as we resist the devil. "Submit" is a word used to describe a soldier under the authority of a commander and speaks of a willing, conscious submission to God's authority. It means to completely surrender yourself to the Word and will of God. That is your best defense.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.

What Do You Mean By Submission?

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 11:10

What Do You Mean By Submission?

People are always asking me this. What is this business of "submission" you're always talking about? We're not really very comfortable with this. Seems kinds of negative. Sounds as though women are not worth as much as men. Aren't women supposed to exercise their gifts? Can't they ever open their mouths?

I wouldn't be very comfortable with that kind of submission either. As a matter of fact, I'm not particularly comfortable with any kind, but since it was God's idea and not mine, I had better come to terms with what the Bible says about it and stop rejecting the whole thing just because it is so often misunderstood and wrongly defined. I came across a lucid example of what it means in 1 Chronicles 11:10, NEB: "Of David's heroes these were the chief, men who lent their full strength to his government and, with all Israel, joined in making him king." There it is. The recognition, first of all, of God-given authority. Recognizing it, accepting it, they then lent their full strength to it, and did everything in their power to make him--not them--king.

Christians--both men and women--recognize first the authority of Christ. They pray "Thy will be done." They set about making an honest effort to cooperate with what He is doing, straightening out the kinks in their own lives according to His wishes. A Christian woman, then, in submission to God, recognizes the divinely assigned authority of her husband (he didn't earn it, remember, he received it by appointment!. She then sets about lending her full strength to helping him do what he's supposed to do, be what he's supposed to be--her head. She's not always trying to get her own way. She's trying to make it easier for him to do his job. She seeks to contribute to his purpose, not to scheme how to accomplish her own.

If this sounds suspiciously like some worn-out traditionalist view, or (worse) like a typical Elisabeth Elliot opinion, test it with the straightedge of Scripture. What does submission to Christ mean? "Wives, submit yourself to your husbands, as to the Lord." Compare and connect.

The Principle of Submission

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Submission is a term that has been grievously distorted because there are men who have used the word as a weapon to club their wives rather than as a hammer to build their homes. When God tells the wife to submit to her husband, He also tells the husband to love his wife (Ephesians 5:22-25). When God tells children to obey their parents, He also instructs the fathers to “provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). When God tells you to submit to Him, it is for your good (James 4:7). Jesus is the head of the church, and He leads by love. The same should be true in the home.

ACTION POINT:
Discuss the principle of submission with your family and friends this week. Contrast what the world would say it means to submit with what God desires for us.

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