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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV) Embrace it, live it, and move on from it– weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities (all stressors in life that make you feel like quitting, giving up and dying) are supposed to become the evidence you need to know that you are walking with God. The Apostle Paul reminds us that life isn’t easy, nor was it meant to be. In fact, if his life is an example of what the Christian life would look like, we would probably second guess our decisions to follow Christ in the first place. Sounds counterintuitive? That’s because it is. Why in the world would we need to be shown our weaknesses in order to embrace God’s strength and mercy? Simply, without having weak spots and emptiness, there would be no room for God to rest in our lives. Some of us can’t embrace that. I have a hard time embracing that. I want control. I want to be impervious. I want to be a god. Every single time things start to go well for me in one area, another area completely tanks! Glancing at my circumstances and situations it almost feels as if calamity follows good news in such a way that the positive is muted. I think every major positive life experience was either followed by or tied with a catastrophic life event. As a result, I have learned not to celebrate victories, nor mourn losses and to grip any semblance of control I have in my life even tighter so that the only god dictating my journey is myself. Tell me that we don’t dream of being gods, in control of our destinies, not weakened by anything? This truth completely sucks if you want to live in Pleasantville; but if you live in the world the rest of us live, where things in your life go wrong as others go awry, then you have reason to hope and receive the fullness of rest in God. An overwhelming circumstance with one calamity following another is not designed to kill you. Nor is it designed to ruin you. It is designed so that even in your bad times and horrible days, you can experience the grace, love and power of God– the same grace, love an power you experience on your good days an in your better circumstances. The idea of being content here is not one of subtle happiness, it is an expectation of accepting things as they are and understanding that there is something greater than the immediate pain and suffering bad circumstances present and embracing them as opportunities for you to taste the greater things God prepared for us in Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as not good enough. You are good enough and you were chosen for exactly this. Nobody else could experience God like you will and have in your circumstances. Embrace your weakness and watch the power of God make your life perfect before you.