2 Corinthians 12:10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Life is full of hardships and insults, and unfair judgments, and that is just among Christians! What do you do and who do you turn to when you need strength to make it through all of the noise and confusion? I turn to Jesus and find strength in Him and His Word. Sometimes the most compassionate listening person can cause us to feel peace in our hearts in difficult times, but God's Word lifts up the most downcast soul. How? The Word of God is ALIVE! Scripture states in Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
The Word of God gets to the heart of the problem and ministers to that heart with hope and strength. When I come to the Word of God looking for answers, it always supplies the pure truth that is needed. The following story speaks to the power of God's Word and the strength that it supplies.
One of the most dramatic examples of the Bible's divine ability to transform men and women involved the famous mutiny on the "Bounty." Following their rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh, nine mutineers, along with the Tahitian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long and a mile wide. Ten years later, drink and fighting had left only one man alive--John Adams. Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island's population. So far this is the familiar story made famous in the book and motion picture. But the rest of the story is even more remarkable. About this time, Adams came across the "Bounty's" Bible in the bottom of an old chest. He began to read it, and the divine power of God's Word reached into the heart of that hardened murderer on a tiny volcanic speck in the vast Pacific Ocean--and changed his life forever. The peace and love that Adams found in the Bible entirely replaced the old life of quarreling, brawling, and liquor. He began to teach the children from the Bible until every person on the island had experienced the same amazing change that he had found. Today, with a population of slightly less than 100, nearly every person on Pitcairn Island is a Christian.
What will you do with the information that the strength you need is waiting and ready in the power of God's Word? Will you search the scriptures for the pure truth that they so readily supply? If not, you will continue to seek out temporal modes of happiness and strength that will never last and never truly satisfy you. Come in your weakness and find strength in the pure truth of God's Word and the Holy Spirit will move you to a new vantage point when looking at your circumstances. Keep in mind, some of that pure truth will cause you to re-evaluate where you stand now in your faith walk and it will compel you to make changes that line up with the Word of God. And of course, that will be the best move in your life.
The Pilgrimage Continues...
David Warren