Strength In Weakness(Trina Agee Cornell)

Good evening! For the next 3 days, I will be on a mission trip to Vietnam. During that time, I will have new blogs each night from guest authors! (Also, on many nights, I will post pictures from my trip here!) For the next 26 evenings, my spot will be filled by my dear sister in Christ, Trina Agee Cornell! Trina and I went through many mission trips together and I have been a guest in Trina's and her husband, Bob's home. Please keep me in your prayers!

Strength in Weakness

I remember singing all sorts of church songs when I was little.  I have the pleasure of reliving those days now, as Connor begins to learn them.  At our church, we have a time of fellowship called “Pew Packers” – fifteen minutes before church services begin, kids of all ages gather in the front pews and sing VBS-type songs together.  They also allow some of the “younger” men to lead prayers and songs by standing on the stage. Connor really gets into this every Sunday night – he loves trying to do the hand motions, and “singing” in his own sweet way.  I keep thinking back to Proverbs when I see him in his element – “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (22:6). Our prayer for Connor is that he will grow to know the Lord – and desire to build his own personal relationship with Him.  Times like these allow us to feed Connor spiritually – and allow the Lord to do His powerful work in our son’s life. 

One of the many songs we sing during this time includes “Jesus Loves Me”.  As a kid, I memorized every verse of this song – and sang it without really thinking about it.  As an adult, I think about the words of the song – and the great reminder that they war:  

Jesus loves me, this I know – for the Bible tells me so. 

Little ones to Him belong – they are weak, but He is strong. 

When I am weak, the Lord is strong. He wants me to learn lessons, designed just for me, in my dark places – those times that do not make sense. Those times when my faith wavers – and I feel alone.  He knows that, by facing my challenges - and actually going through them - I will be stronger in the end. James 1:2-4 has been on my mind quite a bit throughout this study:

"Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

It is quite hard to do this in the moment - to remember that going through it will benefit me in a positive way. James is my father's favorite book of the Bible - and these verses are one of the many reasons why it holds this place. He taught me this saying to remember the content of this verse - and to apply it to my every day life; Count - Know - Ask - Let

Count on having trials in our lives - they are inevitable. We are fallible - living in a fallible world.

Know that you will make it through those trials - because the Lord says that you will.

Ask the Lord for his wisdom - He gives it freely.

Let Him do His thing - everything comes together in His timing.

In my times of suffering, I hold on to these verses - and the promise that I am not alone. When I am weak, He is strong - always.

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org