II Corinthians 12 (The Message Bible)
God's answer to Paul's prayer about taking away his thorn in his flesh.....
"My grace is enough, it's all you need. My strength comes into it own in your weakness."
Paul's thoughts:
"Once I heard this, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size-----abuse, accidents, opposition and bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."
The very heart of recovery!!!
It is a matter of giving up.
Father Martin, long time spokesman and champion of A.A., said that addiction was like climbing in a ring every day to face the champion, and day after day you get your brains beat out.
You go home and spend the entire evening and night trying to figure out how to beat it. But the next day, like clockwork, you make your way back to the ring, climb in for another round with the champ. The outcome is the same....you get your brains beat out. Finally one day it comes to you........I don't have to get in the ring!!!! If I don't get in the ring, I won't have to fight the champ. In other words...you win by giving up.
Paul's statement concerning the whole weakness/strength thing is priceless. Paul has been praying to God because of what he refers to as "his thorn in the flesh". We're not told what the thorn is, it could be a physical ailment, or an emotional state that he could be suffering from. Some have even suggested that it was people, under the influence of Satan, who followed Paul everywhere to heckle and badge him when he spoke. Makes no difference what the thorn was...it was real...and it was something that Paul had focused on to the point that it had become a major distraction in his life. It was such that Paul found himself consumed with nothing else but the thorn. Praying to God, Paul received his answer. "Celebrate your own personal weakness, and at the same time realize that I (God) am working in ways that you won't understand, to strengthen you."
We win this daily battle by simply giving up....
By not getting the ring to face the champion....
We win by admitting our powerlessness and by turning to God for the answers.
By turning to God for strength to make it through this 24 hour period that we have been given to live.
Moment by moment...minute by minute, I look to God for direction on how to make decisions.
Will we mess up...Probably as we will sometimes look to our old way of thinking when problems arise. But don't let this deter you in this journey of a new way of living. Realize the decision you made for what it is..."For a brief moment, I was trying to climb back into the ring." Move on! Don't quit! Never stop!
Chew on this today and see if it has some truth in it.
God on you....
mb
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