Passion Week: Isaiah 49:1-6

Listen to me, all you in distant lands!
    Pay attention, you who are far away!
The Lord called me before my birth;
    from within the womb he called me by name.
² He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.
    He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.
    I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.

³ He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,
    and you will bring me glory.”

⁴ I replied, “But my work seems so useless!
    I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.
Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;
    I will trust God for my reward.”

⁵ And now the Lord speaks—
    the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
    who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
    and my God has given me strength.
⁶ He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
    I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
    and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Personal Note:

Jesus LORD, your mouth is like a sharpened sword.  You are the servant that display God's glory.  All my rewards are with you and you are my strength.

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

 1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to
visions and revelations from the Lord. 2I know a man in Christ who fourteen
years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of
the body I do not know—God knows. 3And I know that this man—whether in
the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4was caught up
to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
5I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about
my weaknesses. 6Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because
I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than
is warranted by what I do or say.
 7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to
torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But
he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so
that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am
weak, then I am strong.

MEDITATION
1. When we tell people that God guarantees his children health and wealth in
this life, or if they only have enough faith, they’ll be healed, that’s not true.
Paul prayed with total confidence, only to learn that the answer was no.  He
learned in time that the weakness which devastated him was truly a gift from
God.  A gift that enabled him to experience God’s grace, presence, and power,
in ways he would never have experienced them otherwise.  So, when tragedy
strikes and disaster comes, God will give his own strange gifts as we grow in
our dependence on him.  As we seek His strength, we’ll discover a depth to
our relationship with the Lord that we would otherwise never have known.
And a strength that makes weakness a triumph and a joy.
2. What is my weakness?  Have I received God’s gift?  How does this gift help
me experience God’s power and grace?

Personal Note:
Paul had a thorn in the flesh.  I have weaknesses in the area of self-confidence, vision, leadership...  The weakness enables me to rely heavily on God instead of believing that I can do things for the kingdom of God apart from His grace.  God has given me the gift of His guidance through the Holy Spirit.  I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.