Week 16- Power of the Gospel
What’s your instinctive reaction when trouble comes knocking? A popular response would be to meet it head-on with all your strength and resolve, and that would indeed be a perfectly suitable response to suffering.
The concept of power and strength can vary greatly depending on the lens through which we view them. In today's world, power often evokes images of dominance and intelligence. However, within the framework of God's kingdom, the notion of power takes on a radically different form. It finds its essence in humility and embracing suffering. It's completely counter-cultural, perhaps even appearing foolish, and doesn't align with what we typically consider a wise approach to life. But God often uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.
Consider Paul's remarkable stance on adversity and suffering; he not only accepts it but revels in it, even finding cause for rejoicing. This kind of power, rooted in the gospel, doesn't abandon us in our moments of weakness. Instead, it beckons us into a journey of surrender—a surrender of our own strength in exchange for God's omnipotent grace working through our vulnerabilities.
To surrender means placing complete trust in the notion that, even in our weakest moments, amidst failure and distress, God has the power to orchestrate outcomes beyond our wildest dreams. It's a transformative surrender that leads us to a profound realization of where true strength lies.