Day 256 Bible Readings – 2 Corinthians 13: 5 (ESV)

Isaiah 31-32, 2 Corinthians 13, Psalm 135: 1-12

2 Corinthians 13: 5 (ESV)

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Verse 5 from 2 Corinthians 13 shows us Paul’s recommendation to the Church of Corinth to ask themselves if they are really followers of Christ. Paul told them that they need to test themselves if Christ in within them. When I read the Bible commentaries on this line, I was struck by what Charles Spurgeon wrote about this verse. Spurgeon wrote that “The true Christian carries the cross in his heart; and a cross inside the heart, my friends, is one of the sweetest cures for a cross on the back. If you have a cross in your heart – Christ crucified in you, the hope of glory – all the crosses of this world’s troubles will seem to you light enough, and you will easily be able to sustain it.”

I never thought that having Christ in my heart meant to think about how Christ was crucified for my sins, and all the pain and agony he went through in his trial and his final death. If think about how Christ died and suffered, I can see why my own troubles would never compare to what Christ suffered and would seem paltry and insignificant. And if my troubles are that small compared to Christ’s troubles, then my own season of trouble could easily be sustained. I know we all tend to look at our troubles as so big and horrible, but when we compare them to what Christ went through then there is no comparison. I grew up Catholic and at Lent leading up to Easter we used to do walk and view the Stations of the Cross in our church on Fridays and meditate on the suffering of Christ. I never understood why we did this as a child, but now after reading Spurgeon I understand the reasoning behind the practice. The Stations of the Cross meditation needed to be performed so we could understand what Christ went through and remember that our sufferings were nothing compared to sufferings of Christ. I don’t remember ever being told why we did Stations of the Cross at my childhood church, but I wished they would have explained it using Spurgeon’s text. I might not have fully understood this explanation as a child, but it would have made some sense to me as to why this ritual was practiced and would have gotten more out of it as well.

Day 255 Bible Readings – Isaiah 30: 18 (ESV)

Isaiah 29-30, 2 Corinthians 12: 11-21, Psalm 134

Isaiah 30: 18 (ESV)

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Verse 18 from Isaiah 30 is Isaiah telling us to trust in God’s timing. Isaiah tells us that when God seems slow to answer our prayers, it always because he has a purpose behind that is in our best interest even if it may not seem like to us at the time. When we receive mercy from God, he is exalted in our eyes because he has given us his grace. God will deliver justice and answer our prayers, but only to those who are willing to wait on God’s timing.

I know for myself that waiting for God’s timing to answer prayers is a hard thing. But God’s timing in my experience is always perfect, even though I only see how perfect God’s timing is in hindsight a long time afterwards. Because we cannot see into the future, we need to trust in God’s timing. God sees our past, present, and future. So we need to always trust God’s timing and rely on his promise to us that he will always answers our prayers in a way that serves us for our ultimate good.

Day 254 Bible Readings – 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 (ESV)

Isaiah 27-28, 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10, Psalm 133

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 (ESV)

“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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Verses 9 through 10 from 2 Corinthians 12 shows God’s response to Paul when he asked him to take a thorn from him. Paul had begged God three times to take the thorn away. God’s told Paul that “my grace if sufficient for you.” Paul’s situation is something I think everyone has in their life - a “thorn” or some kind of problem that people of faith have been praying to God to take away in their life. That “thorn” can be an illness, lack of money or some kind of lack, a feeling of doubt against God, or any number of things. I have a “thorn” in my life that I have been praying about since 2018, and God has not taken the issue away.

I have read many bible commentaries on these verses, and they say the same thing that I am wresting with today. God sometimes does not remove the “thorns” in our lives, because he is trying to strengthen us and deepen our faith in his grace. Pastor David Guzik wrote on these verses that “We really don’t believe God’s grace is sufficient until we believe we are insufficient. For many of us, especially in American culture, this is a huge obstacle. We are the people who idolize the “self-made man” and want to rely on ourselves. But we can’t receive God’s strength until we know our weakness. We can’t receive the sufficiency of God’s grace until we know our own insufficiency.”

I know God is telling that me that only “God’s grace is enough for me.” I cannot rely on myself or other people; I need to only rely on God for everything in my life. This is a hard lesson for me, and I am relying on God’s grace to help me understand why knowing my own insufficiency is a good thing and not a bad thing. I know I need to rely only of God for everything in my life, and I pray to God every day to help me know that God’s grace is enough for me.

Day 253 Bible Readings – Isaiah 25: 4-5 (ESV)

Isaiah 24-26, 2 Corinthians 11: 16-33, Psalm 132

Isaiah 25: 4-5 (ESV)

“For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down.”

Verses 4 and 5 from Isaiah 25 shows the prophet Isaiah praising God for his goodness to people who pray to him in times of distress. God has been good to people who are poor, those who are needy and in distress, those who are in the season of afflictions which seems like storms in their lives. Having God on your side is like having shelter I a storm or shade from the heat. God also will bring justice to those who are against God’s people.

I like how Isaiah describes all the ways we can expect God to behave if we have in him. God is always there for us in seasons of distress and troubles in our lives. If we have faith in God, we do not have to do everything ourselves because we will always have help from God. He will not abandon us or leave us to suffer. And we can expect justice from God on those who trouble us, although that justice always happens in God’s timing and not ours. I don’t know how people without faith go through a season of trouble. They must experience a terrible type of fear and anxiety thinking they are all alone with no one to help them. But people of faith have no such fear and anxiety since they know they can rely on God to help through a season of trouble.