If a genie in a bottle asked you this question, \u201cWhat one thing, if it got better, would make the greatest difference in your life?\u201d, what would your response be?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer would probably be different when we are 16 years old, 30 years old, or 65 or older. At any given age, there will always be something in our lives that is the most painful or concerning, whether it is physical, mental, financial, or emotional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Goodness! I know that over my decades of life, my questions shifted from being a latch-key kid, to my dad\u2019s brain tumor, to my mom\u2019s heart issues, to my babies\u2019 illnesses, to financial woes, and to my 60\u2019s — self-navigating widowhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We tend to blame all bad things on the devil, yet God uses the most painful times for His purposes. The very thing that brings us to our knees is also the thing that causes the most growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We pray and wish it away, and yet it is often what catapults us to a new and deeper level of knowing Him. There is the knowing Him through reading and hearing about Him, and then there is the KNOWING Him on our knees, through our desperate heart cries. One is head knowledge. The other is true heart knowledge gained through experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we read about Paul and how he pleaded with God to remove his \u201cthorn\u201d\u2014the one thing that, if it got better, would make the greatest difference in his life. Yet it wasn\u2019t removed. Not because of Paul\u2019s sin or lack of faith. God chose to allow it to stay and showcase His surpassing grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve come to know \u2013 through the \u201cthorns\u201d of pain and suffering of those I love and even my own suffering, God\u2019s power shines brightest in our greatest weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, today, I urge those of you who are in \u201cthat\u201d season of distress, worry, pain and difficulties \u2013 when you are driven to your knees and crying out for God to change your circumstances — whisper a prayer of gratitude for the Grace that empowers you to walk through it with a peace that passes all understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd He said to me, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.\u201d Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ\u2019s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d 2 Corinthians 12:9-10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If a genie in a bottle asked you this question, \u201cWhat one thing, if it got better, would make the greatest difference in your life?\u201d, what would your response be?” The answer would probably be different when we are 16 years old, 30 years old, or 65 or older. At any given age, there will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[29103,1378,29100,1210,1769,29102,1392,8610,8006,20260,29105,40,6107,1385,29101,16977,897,7518,29099],"class_list":["post-19597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2-corinthians-127-10","tag-2-corinthians-129","tag-blame-on-the-devil","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-desperate-heart-cries","tag-facebook","tag-flesh","tag-genie","tag-gods-power","tag-gratitude-for-grace","tag-inspiration","tag-knowing-god","tag-my-grace-is-sufficient","tag-on-our-knees","tag-painful","tag-peace-that-passes-understanding","tag-suffering","tag-thorn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19597"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19604,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597\/revisions\/19604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}