The Well

LIVE TO PRAISE HIM

We can agree that Paul is talking about keeping his life aligned with Christ. In the chapter leading up to this verse he is talking about how he behaves in different settings; when he is with the Jews, he is obedient to Jewish laws and when he is with oppressed people he shares their oppression. He claimed that he did all these things that he might bring Christ to them. Okay, that was great for Paul, but what does it mean for us?

When I sat down at my desk this morning, I asked the Lord to please speak to me concerning my circumstances. For years I read Charles Stanley's "In Touch" devotional the first thing every morning. Recently, it found it's way back into my routine through Christianity.com's ministry of email list. However, this devotional came from one I read several years back, he used 1 Corinthians 12:1-10, where Paul is talking about his thorn in the flesh. Why did he have this thorn? He says it was because he had experienced such exquisite mysteries of God that God gave him the thorn to keep him humble.

My mind went immediately to the day my friend anointed me and prayed for my healing. I had a few painless days, but healing of my back did not happen. Maybe God will receive more glory, maybe I will be able to better emphasize with people in pain ¾ I honestly don't know the why, I just know, even so ¾ all the more I will praise Him.

An awesome sense of quiet happened as I turned to read Oswald's writing for today (2/3) and discovered the portion of scripture he used, 1 Corinthians 4:13, "We respond gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world's garbage, like everybody's trash ¾ right up to the present moment." In many instances this is true. Many times God calls us to a time of sickness or suffering; a wilderness. Oswald says we should be able to say, "I don't care if I am treated like 'the filth of the world' as long as the gospel is proclaimed."

Following Jesus' glorious baptism God called Him to the wilderness. Following God's beautiful exhibition of power through His servant Elijah, Elijah ran to the wilderness. In "Streams in the Desert," a statement just stunned me, "God shines His light on you to make you fit for life's deserts...He illuminates you so He may send you into the night, making you a help to the helpless. You are not always worthy of the wilderness ¾ you are only worthy of the wilderness after the splendor of the Jordan River experience." Wow!

The helpless need a friend who understands a "Jesus with skin on." Henri J. M. Nouwen, in The Wounded Healer, said, "A man can keep his sanity and stay alive as long as there is at least one person who is waiting for him." Will you be that one person for someone today? When we truly believe that in our weakness He is strong, the eternal prize is joy in Jesus! Let's praise Him in our weakness!