Rich Wilkerson Jr. — Becoming: Work Your Weakness

I want to welcome all of our vous friends and family who are joining us by way of YouTube or the podcast come on foo Church can we make some noise for all of our friends maybe you're in your car right now maybe you're even taking a shower I'm gonna preach to you in the shower yo I got a word for you second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 6 it says this this is Paul's writing he says even 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 what is warranted but what I do or say or because of these surpassingly great revelations therefore in order to keep me from becoming conceited I was given a thorn in my flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me three times I pleaded with the Lord take it away from me but 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 that 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 [Applause] I want to preach tonight from the subject work your weakness work your weakness would you pray with me all over this room oh we thank you for your word the unchanging Word of God or its seasons change but your word remains the same so tonight though we look to your truth over our truth and we ask that you change us from the inside out help us to get a new glimpse of fresh revelation of Jesus Christ may we leave this place better than how we walked in we believe in advance and we thank you in advance that you're gonna do something in us we love you Jesus we exalt your name and if you're in agreement with that prayer all of God's people said come on all of God's people said come on if you love Jesus all over this room I want you to take the next five seconds I want you to clap your hands stomp your feet make some noise for the king of kings and the Lord of lords we are in the third part of a collection entitled becoming and the premise of this collection is a simple phrase the only thing more important than who you are today is who you're becoming tomorrow how many of you know that where you're headed is more important than where you are we choose a life of progression not perfection as we learned last week it's a phase life is a process and the very fact that we're declaring that we are becoming also insinuates the fact that we are not there yet if you're not careful we will turn this concept of becoming into a destination um how many out that you'd like to do some online shopping where are you people where are you okay yep look at that yep yep confession okay it's fun to open itself isn't it some of your girls like oh my goodness who got me a gift you got it for yourself somebody ought to do it that's fun when you when you purchase a gift because you order something online and they send you a tracking number how many other tracking number comes in you put it in and then a message pops up it says your package is in transit I love that language because in many ways that's what it feels like when you are becoming like Jesus you have to get comfortable living a life in transit sort of a double entendre here because how many know that two thousand years ago Jesus Christ purchased you with his blood on a cross he purchased you but you're in transit you haven't arrived yet but on the flip side how many oh that God he's also the one who sent you he sent you into your mission he sent you into your purpose but you haven't arrived yet you are becoming you are in transit therefore becoming is not about arrival it's about the journey we're committing to the journey we're committing to the process in fact you won't get there until you die that's good news because you might be in this room and you might be older in years and you might be thinking yourself man my best days are behind me but not true if you are in Christ Jesus if there is still air in your lungs he is not done developing you he is not done transforming you you are still becoming because we don't arrive until we step into eternity and we are made like Christ because I believe that what that tells me is that while I'm becoming I'm gonna face problems did you know it's totally possible to be struggling and becoming at the same time let me say it again some of you in this room hear me you're struggling but just because you're struggling hasn't stopped you from becoming our problems do not overshadow our purpose our weaknesses do not discount our work and our deficiencies definitely do not delay our destiny we have to learn how to work our weakness someone say work your weakness you got to work your weakness because all of us to some degree have a thorn in our flesh I got weaknesses I'm not gonna share mine tonight because I'm too spiritual for that but we've all got problems we all have gaps we all have deficiency we've all made mistakes we've all got these things that feel like a thorn in our flesh now this term thrown in the flesh this is a biblical term and we get it from the Apostle Paul in fact that's our study tonight 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 this is the Apostle Paul's writings and before we get to the text let me put it into context a little bit the second letter that Paul writes of the church in Corinth he's writing to a church that he planted that he started that he began yet he's taken a year and a half on a journey of planting other churches and while he has been away there have been false teachers that have crept into the community that are preaching heresy and a false doctrine now in order to convert the community part of their strategy is they must strip Paul of his authority and integrity so these men are lying about Paul they're saying all sorts of things about Paul they're saying that his motives are wrong they said that he wanted wants to make money to say he has hidden sin they even go as far to say yo your preaching is just not even good everyone's bored you don't have any eloquence you're very unimpressive these are the criticisms that they bring against Paul and Paul in Chapter 11 in chapter 12 is giving a defense to his ministry as you study it you can quickly tell that Paul does not like having to boast about his resume or boast about his strengths as you read chapter 11 as you read chapter 12 you almost sense a sarcastic tone coming from the Apostle Paul he's like this is silly oh okay I got to defend it because if I don't defend it so many people are gonna be swept away with this goofy crazy heretical teaching so I have to defend my ministry but I feel silly doing so so let me tell you some of the stuff I've done he starts giving accomplishments he starts giving successes but as he gets to chapter 12 it's like he gets tired of his own press release he's unimpressed with himself he's like yo to really be honest if I'm a boast I'm not gonna post any more about my successes or my accolades or my accomplishments I must start boasting in defending my weaknesses because if you want to know what's really impressive let me tell you what's really impressive it's really impressive that God picked a joker like me fool like me and he has worked through me I love when people come to our church because our church started like four years ago and leaders will come like oh my goodness this is amazing you guys must be the best leaders ever all the leaders on our staff kind of laugh we'll tell you what we know but once you get to know us you're gonna be very unimpressed because it is only by the grace of God that anything has happened the further we go with Jesus the more unimpressed we are with ourselves he's working through us he's using our weaknesses let me boast tonight i'ma boast at all of my weaknesses in all of my mistakes because God has worked through it anyways somebody give God some praise tonight work your weakness Paul starts boasting about weaknesses and he finally says I was given a thorn in my flesh now we don't know what the thorn in his flesh was his scholars and theologians they love to talk about it there's all sorts of ideas some believe it's it was physically affliction you know the Apostle Paul was being persecuted in Chapter 11 he describes the persecution that he went through I was shipwrecked I went without food I was stoned not stoned like you got stoned last night but but this this was a form of people would take rocks and because they hated him they would throw rock it's called stoning he says I received the 39 lashes this is a this was a Jewish custom of persecution he says I was beaten with rods this was a Gentile form of persecution many believe that the thorn in his flesh was just the physical affliction that he had gone through Galatians chapter 6 he writes in his letter he says see what big letters I am writing you many believe that Paul might have had an eye ailment and this was the thorn in his flesh yet others have suggested that maybe it was spiritual and psychological struggles you'll notice that Paul will look at in a moment he says that a messenger of Satan came to torment me maybe he's alluding to some sort of demonic oppression we know that Paul not only went through trauma but he caused trauma he was not only persecuted he also persecuted those that did not deserve the punishments he gave and that can cause some real anxiety it still some think it might be these super apostles this term super apostles shows up in Chapter 11 in Chapter 12 these were the men who were criticizing Paul's every move in Corinth they were dogging him at every corner and they were trying to strip him from his integrity they're called super apostles because Paul is being sarcastic saying well they must be so super however we don't know what the thorn was now I find this fact to be both merciful and instructive it's merciful because how many of you know that if we knew what Paul's thorn was we would stop relating to it because you would be comparing your thorn to his thorn mine's worse than is his was worse than mine because you don't know what it is it creates a possibility and it creates a relatability for all of us but it's also instructive because as you begin to study it apparently the point is not the thorn the point is the purpose of the thorn we all have a thorn in our flesh better way of saying is we all have weakness we all have gaps we all have issues we all have struggles and the first step to working your weakness is admitting your weakness how many know denial is dangerous just because you ignore it doesn't mean it's gonna go away but many times we conceal things and we cover things up because we're concerned that if we'll expose it we're going to be embarrassed have you ever felt exposed before I was thinking this because I was studying when I was in Bible College I put together this ministry group our ministry name was broken how spiritual is that man broken you have to you have to whisper when you said broken and we had a worship team and I would preach and we would go to youth ministries we had a minivan and a trailer we'd go all up and down the East Coast and you know every night we would record the services then we would get in the van and take a long drive and then the guys in the van we would all evaluate the service and back then I would wear this little microphone or anything like my t-shirt just to record my sermon and so on one occasion we were we were coming back from service and we were listening to my sermon in that particular service I don't know what it is but like in ministry time at altar time I had some students at the front I'm praying for him sometimes when when the anointing shows up the gift of worship comes over me I start singing yo and at the time you probably don't know it but there was this like fire song by michael w smith called here i am to worship and the bridge is so fire I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross [Applause] all glory to him and so I'm praying for kids and my live mic is off but my recording mic is on and this bridge comes on and baby I started singing in a register that does not belong to me I'm off-key just letting it rip and when this part in the van came on I would say there was 25 minutes of uninterrupted laughter I was so embarrassed I felt so exposed how many know that sometimes when we expose our weakness we get embarrassed by it and because we get embarrassed by it all we learn is to cover it up sometimes church is the best thing they teach us is how to hide so we wear a mask and we cover up our wounds and we cover up on weaknesses the problem is is that nothing can heal that's hidden you have to come out of hiding you have to expose it we have to learn the art of vulnerability it's the word we don't talk about a lot in church but we should talk about it more and a good illustration when it comes to the idea of being vulnerable being vulnerable is like giving somebody else a gun and expecting and hoping that they don't use it against you because when I'm vulnerable what I'm doing is I'm putting the power into the listener and I'm hoping now that I've shared my weakness now that I've shared these areas of my life that are embarrassing that you won't hurt me but you'll help me when it comes to my life the person I'm most vulnerable with is my wife now my wife has the potential to harm me in a very deep way she doesn't have a gun she's got a closet full of nuclear weapons why because she knows all my mistakes she knows all my struggles she knows my issues she knows my secrets that I don't tell you how many know that she might have the potential to harm me in the greatest way but if that's true she also has the potential to help me in the greatest way who better to encourage me who better to live me up than somebody who knows all my stuff listen if you don't expose your weakness don't expect anyone to encourage your weakness tonight is a great night on your journey of becoming to stand before God and to expose it to get real with it - quit denying it - acknowledge it and to surrender it over to God yes I know it is true you may be weak but it just so turns out that God he still wants to work come on somebody go ahead and give your God some praise because you know that he wants to work through you someone say work your weakness put your weakness to work I want to show you three ways from the text that you can put your weakness to work number one got to remember is that unanswered prayers are not unmet needs it's funny because we are in 21 days of prayer and fasting right now and everybody out loud says I want God's will for my life but then he ever noticed that when it comes to prayer you only pray your will into your life let me tell you one of the ways that you know you're praying your will instead of God's will it's every time you hear this phrase God if God if you would bless me then I could serve you better Oh God if you would give me a job then I could be generous God if you would finally after all these years give me a husband then I could be complete God if you would give me kids than I could be happy God if you would let my dreams come to pass then I could finally give you glory God if you take away my sickness then I could worship you yet notice what John says because this is important John chapter five first John chapter five verse fourteen this is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to whose will if we asked Mealey according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of him listen to me God is not obliged to fulfill your will but when you start praying God's will not only does he answer you but he always always comes through when you pray his will 21 days of Prayer is 21 days of becoming like Jesus and Jesus one of his final prayer was father not my will put your will I don't want to pray God if I want to pray God I trust you and I want your will over my will it's amazing because the Apostle Paul he sort of prays three different times a God if type of prayer in his heart he's like yo God if you would just take this thorn away if you would just take this issue away if you would just take this weakness away then I could be more effective for you but it turns out the opposite was actually true well watch this 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7 therefore in order to keep me from becoming conceited I was given a thorn in my flesh I want you to see that I was given a thorn in my flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me three times I pleaded I prayed I asked the Lord to take it away from me but he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness did you notice that I was given a thorn in my flesh Paul didn't ask for it Paul didn't cause it he was given it you have some thorns that you didn't cause you have some weaknesses that you didn't ask for but just because you didn't ask for it doesn't mean that God is not going to use it I like it Alice says a messenger of Satan to torment me you know what tells me it tells me our God is so big our God is so great even those of you listening by way of YouTube right now God is so big that he can even use the devil to accomplish his will in your life oh I thought I would have gotten a ladder applause right there because everything that the devil meant for evil in your life our God has a way of turning it around and using it for your good what you thought was gonna harm me ended up helping me come on somebody give him praise in this place Paul please three times he prays three times he asks three times he says God I need to be effective for you take away this thorn and gods like okay God answers if notice God doesn't ignore his prayer instead God responds he says okay I'm gonna meet your need by not answering your prayer what yeah yeah no I hear you you want the phone removed no I'm gonna meet your need by not answering your request don't let it shock you how many know that one of the most merciful things God is that in your life is not answered all your prayer requests [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hey God answer most of them but not all of them I remember I was 17 years of age turning my life over to Jesus and I really felt called that I was gonna go to Bible College in Los Angeles and so I was praying God send me to LA just I'm in transit send me and my dad is like the ruler of my home and so I came before my dad I did a curtsy I said I beseech thee father I said in prayer I really feel like you know I'm supposed to go to LA and I said no no you're not going to LA boy I said I said well you me said you're gonna go to school in Cleveland Tennessee okay it's one thing not to go to LA it's a whole nother thing to be sent to Cleveland Tennessee you know even heard of Cleveland Tennessee Oh like this is wrong God won't answer me my dad's trying to limit my potential couple months later I met dawn Sheree and at the time dawn Sheree had had a record contract and her record contract was in Nashville Tennessee we were talking and you know chit-chatting and just you know doing a thing and just winning her over I say hey where you gonna be at in the fall she's I'm gonna be living in Nashville Tennessee I said how far away is Nashville Tennessee from Cleveland Tennessee she said two hours I said I know what God's will is for my life [Applause] [Music] it was in Cleveland yellow that my love for Jesus deepened and expanded to che leadership opportunities came out I'm gonna be honest to you I don't know who I would have become had I not gone to Cleveland thank you for not answering that prayer requests but still meeting my need all Fred come on you know this to be true in your life because you prayed and you prayed for that new job but guy was like nah and because you didn't get that job all of a sudden you got that other opportunity you you prayed so desperately god I need a promotion god I need a promotion but had you gotten that promotion you would have never discovered that new passion that new direction some of you you you beg God God restore the relationship rescue the relationship oh but God had to let the relationship break to let you know it was broken to begin with I prayed for clarity but God made you wait and inside of you he developed the spirit of strength all I wanted breakthrough in 2019 I didn't know God was setting me up for a breakthrough in 2020 come on somebody give him praise in this house [Applause] just because he didn't answer your prayer doesn't mean he didn't meet your need Paul's like I just know I just know if you would take away this thorn I could be so effective for you but God is like Paul you don't understand I don't pick people the same way people pick people my resume that I'm looking for does it look like accomplishments and accolades I'm looking for week I'm looking for foolish I'm looking for available I'm looking for people that are honest that are exposed and surrendered that's what I'm looking for God gravitates towards your weakness he's attracted to your struggle it's where he does his finest work it's in your weakness that he gets every ounce of glory that he deserves in fact in your strength in your wholeness his grace his power it cannot shine through therefore he looks for weak things Paul said in first Corinthians chapter 1 God he chose the weak things of this world brothers and sisters go back to that slide brothers and sisters think of what you were when you recall this is my story this is yours not many of you were wise by human standards not many were influential not many were of noble birth but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong he chose the lowly things of the world the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him it is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus who has what's the word who has become for us wisdom from God that is our righteousness holiness and redemption therefore as it is written let the one who boasts boast in the Lord come on and make some noise all over this room [Applause] God doesn't need your strength he needs your surrender it's never been about your abilities it still remains to be true it's about your availability your obedience unexposed and I surrender someone say work your weakness just because he doesn't answer the prayer doesn't mean that the need won't be met number two how do you work your weakness you gotta remember God's grace fills the space God's grace fills the space we live in very interesting time right now so many things about the world I love and I enjoy other things we have brand new challenges that nobody before us has ever faced I love globalization I love social media but the downside of all that is that we are so tempted to compare our lives to other people we don't even know oh as funny as our lives expand how many know we don't just compare ourselves to one person instead we compartmentalize our life and we categorize our life and we find a benchmark for different categories of her life it's like so you have somebody right now in your life you're like that you just think are they're so spiritual they're so faithful like you know oh my goodness they're so spiritual every time they just whisper they know God you look at me like in worship his hands are up he doesn't feel like an idiot like I do he's just so bold I want faith like that there's like some couple that you're married you see this other couple you like oh my goodness that they got no problems there so they don't ever argue that ever fight they don't have any drama in their house I just know he loves her like Christ loves the church fully talked to her twice but she seems like a proverbs 31 woman I see a fee vibe Oliver I bet she's just submitting all over that house all day long I want that you parachute other people's kids like I bet their kids were never demon-possessed go to bed on time yes ma'am yes sir perfect diet see people out their jobs but they don't ever feel like quitting so good at work you see people in in the health world fitness world God how did they get a six-pack oh you gave me a tire around my waist what happens every time I compare I feel less than listen never compare you're becoming to someone else is becoming every time I compare myself to someone else I'm always going to lose my way why because the the gap that God is filling in my life is not the gap between me and you but rather the gap that God is filling in my life is who I currently am and who he's calling me to become I want to help you I really want to help you focus on that space invite the Holy Spirit into that space because God has grace to fill that space see Paul's like yo God if God if you would take this away I know I'd be more effective God if God if take away the thorn take away the thorn I know I'd be more effective but guys like no I'm not gonna do that instead God that's what he says God says this in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 but he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness we love this verse and maybe if you've been around Church you've heard this earth before but I just want us for a moment to stop and consider what does this verse practically mean for my life in 2020 because this word sufficient snot a word that we use a whole lot what is it what is sufficient grace well let's define what the word sufficient is the word sufficient is adequate for the purpose God's grace is adequate for your purpose okay but what is adequate mean oh you're gonna love this adequate means just the right amount so put the verse in the context for your life God's grace is just the right amount for my purpose God's grace is just the right amount for the space in between where I am and where he's calling me to go we're all running a race of faith and the space where I am to my finish line is different from the space where you are to your finish line and here's the deal God doesn't give me grace to run your race God doesn't give me grace for the space and the gaps in your life so I better quit looking to the left I better quit looking behind me I better stop looking to the right and I better do what he Bruce says I better fix my eyes on Jesus author Perfector and finisher of my faith because His grace will fill the space we're so tempted to run somebody else's race we're so tempted to do it like somebody else did it but you don't get grace for somebody else's calling I was in Bible College I was sent to Cleveland Tennessee by strict orders by God and my father it just so happened about an hour and a half away in Atlanta Georgia there was this preacher his name is louie giglio I didn't know louie giglio back that in fact Louie's coming to vous conference twenty-two warning shameless plug but make your decision in January so that when you get to June you already know what you're doing now today Louie is a friend of mine he's a mentor in my life a voice my life someone I admire but back then I was 20 21 and I was driving down to Atlanta Georgia to sit underneath this teacher known as louie giglio and I got to be honest with you my life was being shaped by Christ and I was mesmerized by the gift and the anointing on his life still M Louie was so cool he's always had that this gray silver hair so he's just always seemed like a wise sage oh it's manna from heaven coming out of his mouth and Louie like he's very intelligent and he loves science and he loves the Stars and so he'll preach messages about the Stars and I'm sitting there like how does he in the Milky Way do you see the cross like no I didn't know I've never seen this oh Ryan's built the belt of truth like what it came time to graduate from college and I had been so inspired so impact it's so influenced by Louie that I just started copying Louie I got to Miami to join my dad's staff and my dad said son what do you feel called to do I said I wanna reach 20-somethings he said why I said because Louie Giglio does said all right what night do another service I said Tuesday night why because Louie Giglio preaches on Tuesday night you can imagine this white kid in a blazer on Tuesday nights in the heart of Miami Gardens with a laser pointer going and then the stars are there and the stars are there in Jesus I don't even like stars bro I know nothing about stars no disrespect to Louie Giglio what a gift what an anointing but no matter how hard I tried I'm a lousy Louie Giglio no matter how hard I attempted to preach about the Stars no matter how hard I tried to copy his sermon no matter what I did I was just a poor copy nothing authentic about it I am NOT a good louie giglio God's grace does not rest on a fake louie giglio I'm a bad louie giglio but the good news is I'm the best rich Wilkerson jr. you have ever met in your entire life therefore I stand boldly declaring God's grace over my life I got an anointing I got a voice I got a purpose I will be me oh come on somebody go ahead and give him praise be you do you 2020 is a good time to start being you guess what everybody else is already taken you don't get grace for somebody else's space you get grace for the space in your life my grace is sufficient my grace is just the right amount for your purpose and your purpose doesn't look like his purpose and your purpose doesn't look like her purpose you are becoming but you got a gap and my grace will fill the gap for your life as the worship team makes their way up here I just love this picture because in the New Testament over and over again I don't know if you ever see this but Jesus in the New Testament sometimes he confuses me as I read it because on one hand he seems so grace-filled and on the other hand he seems so harsh and so intense ever notice that like so much like okay what gives here prostitute gets caught in the act of adultery they come and according to the law she should be stoned but Jesus like yo if any of you've never sinned you can go ahead and cast the first stone they're all they all drop it and walk away he's like my sister go sin no more she's like thank you that wasn't so bad John chapter 4 there's this woman she's out by the well Jesus walks up in the middle day not even such be around a woman he starts calling out her male he's like yo you've had five husbands you with a sixth man right now he ain't your husband girl you thirsty it's actually what he says he says drink of me and you'll never thirst again I am the living water I'm the only thing that will satisfy you she ran away and said let me tell you about the man who told me everything I ever did I encountered his grace but then you see him encounter people like the Pharisees and he says like woe is you it's gonna be worse for you on the day of judgment than it was for the people of sodom and gomorrah you're like okay that just got intense well what's the difference aren't we all just sinners yeah we are all just sinners but if there's one sin that Jesus really gets annoyed with it's hypocrisy why because what does it mean to be a hypocrite what it means to be a hypocrite is that I'm projecting something to you that I think that you want me to be and so when I come to Jesus projecting something that I'm not it's the sin that prevents him from showering his love on me he actually wants to love the real me he wants to love the real you the jacked up you the broke and you he loves you so much the way that you are but he loves you too much to let you stay the way that you are he wants to take you on a journey of becoming I want to close the gaps in your life but if you're gonna keep bringing the fake version of yourself I don't have grace for fake my love can't reach the projected version I need the actual you I have this car that I've had since I was 17 tonight all my illustrations 17 that was really my peak year um I was given a my 17th birthday a Jeep Wrangler it's still to this day my favorite type of car and I had the same one it was brand-new off the lot in fact today it only has like 78,000 miles on it this year she'll be 19 like she doesn't have a name Oh Sarah anyways okay um I love this car but these days I don't I don't really drive the car very much because well because I don't want to want to get any more miles on it so every now and then I'll go out to the car and I'll start it up and these days because I don't drive it the batteries always dead how many know that could preach too if you don't drive it it's gonna die so what do I have to get jumper cables out and I don't have you ever noticed but on a battery there's a positive and a negative it's how electricity works you need the positive and the negative you're never gonna find a battery that has two positives they're gonna find about it has two negatives it's the positive with the negative it's when the positive gets around the negative that power and electricity begins friend you and I when we come with the real self the negative self the broken self the sinful self and we connect ourselves to God the positive whole full of peace full of strength I'm telling you what his positive gets on our negative and that's where the power happens some will say work your weakness I'm bringing all my gaps to God I'm bringing all of my negativity I'm bringing all of my brokenness because I believe his positives gonna meet my negative and that's where the power begins now I'm not gonna take it away Paul my grace is sufficient and my power is gonna be made perfect in your weakness my positives gonna get on your negative unanswered prayers are not unmet needs God's grace it fills the space but if you're going work your weakness lastly you have to remember that you are pierced for a purpose there is no doubt friends no doubt that God gets glory when we bring our broken weak self it's in that space that God gets all the glory that he takes our weaknesses that he takes our problems and his glory shines through but there's also a very very practical reason why we have to learn to work our weakness it's because when you work your weakness it keeps you humble not a powerful clothes but hopefully tonight an encouragement to your soul notice Paul is never confused actually why he has this thorn in fact he makes it very very clear 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7 therefore in order to keep me from what's the word therefore in order to keep me from what's the word to keep me from becoming conceited I was given a thorn in my flesh listen to me if you become conceited you'll never become who God called you to be in anything that brings about humility it's something to be celebrated because it produces a joy and it reminds us who were actually dependent upon and anything that brings us to a place that reminds us and humbles us and prevents us from walking and pride even if it's suffering even if it's pain even if it hurts I'm telling you what it's a gift from God to keep me from being conceited I got this thorn in my flesh God take away my thorn no I can't take away your thorn because your thorn is keeping you humble you see Paul he was starting to become successful he was planting churches he was taking missionary journeys he was at the conference's his name was becoming influential but how many of you know success is a lousy teacher you don't learn a whole lot when you succeed the greatest lessons are when you fall flat on your face and out of the ashes humility shows up and God says I will lift up the humble in due time [Music] see mismanage success is the leading cause of failure I got to keep the story otherwise I'm not gonna steer this well CS Lewis said pride is the great sin it's cunning and pervasive it shows up and all of us are prone to having it occur in our life it's exactly what happened in the garden they came to the tree and what did this snake say the serpent said I'll tell you why God didn't want you to eat this fruit because if you eat this fruit you'll become like God and Adam and Eve said you know what we don't want to serve God we want to be like God they had everything they needed but mismanaged success leading cause of failure I need a thorn if that's true this is true too well-managed failure is the leading cause of success oh I might've fallen but I'm declaring I'm getting back up I'm putting my weakness to work I'm keeping this thorn I'm not letting it go I'm staying close to the vine I asked the team to bring a rose up onto this stage I love this rose because in many ways I feel like this is what your life looks like in Christ that he is doing a beautiful work in you you are becoming like this rose you're a seed in the ground something is blossoming something is flourishing something is growing it's beautiful what God is doing in your life doesn't have to look like the person on your right and your left it's beautiful what he's doing in your life but if you ever look at a rose this rose right here in particular it has these big thorns on the stem you ask why does that beautiful thing have those thorns well the thorns prevent predators from destroying the Rose if a predator comes and tries to destroy the Rose they're gonna encounter the thorn and the next time they try to go to the Rose they're gonna recognize wait a minute that hurt last time God gives us thorns because thorns prevent the predator of pride from destroying the work he is doing in our life [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thorns they are weakened errs that strengthen us I know that doesn't make sense it's called a paradox but that's what the whole gospel is it's a paradox how do you become great you serve how do you find joy you suffer how do you become rich you give it's the paradox and God says if I remove the thorn you will turn to a lesser strength and if you turn to the lesser strength it's going to produce a fabricated joy but if I let the thorn remain and if you lean into the thorn it will produce a joy from the inside out you will discover the glorious power of my grace in your life you got to keep the thorn because you've been pierced for purpose you're more effective with your thorn you're more useful with your thorn you're gonna work your weakness and when you lean into that paradox we - like Paul we can say out loud therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me that is why for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses can we just stop right there when was the last time you took delight in your shortcomings and insults oh yes they're insulting me again I think God's working it hardships who I'm in a hard season I feel like God has given me a setback so that I can have a comeback I think something's about to happen in persecutions and difficulties sometimes you run from every difficult thing that comes your way but what if I told you tonight lean into the difficulty it's going to produce something inside of you that you could never find unless you lean into it for when I am weak then I am strong you thought your shortcomings could stop God's will I'd be careful with that thought that sounds pretty conceited my God loves to work with weak things my God loves to work with broken things all I gotta do is submit it all I gotta do is surrender it all I gotta do is expose it all I gotta do is trust him in it someone say work your weakness we're taking a moment we're gonna worship tonight but wherever you're watching this from if you're listening in your car if you're on your way to work this week we're celebrating the life of dr. Martin Luther King jr. and tonight we don't worship dr. King he was just a man but we do stop to give honor where honor is due because in 1963 he declared that he had a dream and how many of you know that dream is still becoming we are still in the fight of racism there are still injustice in this nation but I believe that as we use our weakness God's grace can meet us where we are what I love about dr. King is he is the perfect illustration to this principle because not everybody thought that dr. King's tactics were smart tactics some people criticized him saying you're gonna fight hate with love you're gonna march in peace that is so weak but dr. King understood the most powerful force in the entire universe is the power of love and he said I'm gonna put my weakness to work and because he put his weakness to work God began to move [Applause]

Channel: VOUS Church

Views: 50,003

Rating: 4.9376497 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: RRxzTT7tgGU

Length: 47min 16sec (2836 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 20 2020