It's Not About You!

NOT!!!!!!!!

Read 2 Corinthians 12:2–10

I need to underscore a foundational fact: God's goal is not to make sure you're happy. No matter how hard it is for you to believe this, it's time to do so. Life is not about you being comfortable and happy and successful and pain free. It's about becoming the man or woman God has called you to be. Unfortunately, we will rarely hear that message proclaimed today. All the more reason for me to say it again: LIFE IS NOT ABOUT YOU! IT'S ABOUT GOD.

How can I say that with assurance? Because of Paul's response: "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong" (vs. 9–10). That's it! He got it too. And he went with it for the rest of his days.

When you and I boast of our strengths, we get the credit, and we keep going under our own head of steam. But when we boast in what He is doing in the midst of our brokenness, inability, and inadequacy, Christ comes to the front. His strength comes to our rescue. He is honored.

Don't miss that point. The very things we dread and run from in our lives are precisely what brought contentment to Paul. Look at the list: I am content when I lose. I am content when I am weak. I am content with insults. I am content when I'm slandered. I am content in distresses. I am content with persecutions. I am content with difficulties and pressures that are so tight I can hardly turn around. Why? "Because when I am weak then I'm strong." Knowing that brought the apostle, ablaze with the flaming oracles of heaven, to his knees. What a way to live your life—content in everything—knowing that divine strength comes when human weakness is evident.

That's what gave the man of grace true grit. It will do the same for us.

by Charles R. Swindoll

Source:

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

This message really struck me today. I am so glad that God used a dear, godly friend to post this message on her Facebook wall. My life as a disabled person can get depressing and lonely at times. I know that in my infirmities, God will show this former Marine that I have no strength within myself and that I am nothing without HIM. Only when I let go and bow to His strength and His strength alone will I be strong enough and courageous enough to carry on -- not to carry on to do my will, but to do His will and fulfill His purpose for my life. In that I can find great contentment -- knowing that the God of all creation will either be lifting me above my life circumstances or walking through them with me. In the end it will be HIS VICTORY, because all along I was running the race on HIS shoulders!

God help me to learn what Paul learned and help me to know and remember for the rest of my days that I was put here to glorify YOU. Every day help me to remember that not one thing in this life is about me, it's about lifting up YOUR mighty name and proclaiming to the world the great things YOU have done.

Lord, even on my bad days, help me to remember that YOU are with me and are putting me in the fire, not to harm me, but to refine me and mold me into a vessel worthy to be used by my Master and King.

For His Glory and Honor, 

The Princess Warrior

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Copyright © 2009 The Princess Warrior Ministries. All articles are copyrighted on the date they are posted, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in exact form including copyright and web address. Other uses require written permission. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible.