[Music] here's today's InTouch devotion today's scripture reading is 2 Corinthians chapter 12: 7-1 because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason to keep me from exalting myself there was given me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me to Keep Me From exalting Myself concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me and he has said to me my grace is sufficient for you for power is perfected in weakness 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 when you listen to someone speak what gives his or her words weight most often we measure a message against the person's experience and dismiss the thoughts and ideas that don't seem genuine so when we come to Paul's discussion of God's sufficiency we ask is this something he can really talk about and we're able to read the Bible and see from the apostles life that the answer
is a resounding yes Paul's testimony contains accounts of many hardships that confronted him see 2 Corinthians 11: 22-28 he was imprisoned beaten threatened stoned Shipwrecked and robbed on top of all this he had a persistent unrelenting thorn in his flesh you might think God would keep his servants in perfect condition and health yet when the Apostle prayed for Relief the answer was maybe not what he expected God said my grace is sufficient for you the Lord taught Paul the lesson that in God's hands our weakness allows for the Lord's strength to be made even more
apparent and it's through God's power and his power alone that we can do amazing things perhaps you struggle with your own Thorn trust God to accomplish his purposes through your weakness you can be a vessel through whom God displays his power to the world [Music]
