Finding Strength in Weakness

Dr. Tony Evans highlights the concept of embracing challenges and weaknesses for spiritual growth. Join him as he explains that just as a peanut’s shell needs to be cracked for the nut to be enjoyed or a butterfly breaks free from its cocoon to take flight, Christians often encounter trials orchestrated by God to eliminate self-sufficiency and promote dependency on Him.

Grace is god doing for you what you cannot do for yourself.
Grace is the goodness of god that he displays whether or not he changes the surface.
He says, my grades, my favor, is sufficient for your circumstance, even if I don’t remove the sand right now.
like a woman who’s pregnant and in labor is bursting something.
To enjoy the fragrance,
of perfume.
You’ve gotta break the cap for that fragrance that is inside to be able to be smelled.
To enjoy chewing a peanut, you’ve gotta break the shell so that the nut can emerge and you can eat it.
for Butterfly to take flight, it must break the cocoon so that it can rise to its created level of intentionality.
And for Christ to get all out of you and me
that he wants, he has to break us of self sufficiency.
The one thing that god hates more than anything else is self sufficiency where we feel we can function independently of him.
whenever there is self sufficiency,
god will bring about a breaking, a cracking in the life of a person, a believer, in order to help rid themselves of their feeling of independence.
And one of the chief ways god strips us
of our independence and self sufficiency is through his use of the devil.
God uses Satan.
to break a brother down, to break a sister down.
god is so sovereign. He rules so comprehensively and completely.
that even hell is at its begging call.
The devil, Satan, and demons, have to function at his instruction in order to put us in our place.
In these verses in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12, Paul has just come all out of a a high.
When you wreath the first six verses,
he talks about an experience that he had that would blow your mind.
He got to go to the 3rd heaven.
He’s the only person human being who got to visit heaven, see what was there, and come back to talk about it.
He said I saw things there that were unlawful to other.
Yes. He said, I can’t I can’t even I don’t have the words to talk about what I saw when god let me go visit the 3rd heaven.
I don’t know all that heaven is going to offer And I know the Bible only gives us glimpses after coming off of this high.
He says in verse 7, because of the surpassing greatness, the unique privilege of the revelation.
for this reason to keep me from exalting myself.
that was giving me a thorn in the flesh because god had let me get so high so high that no other man has ever gotten before.
That would be the propensity and the tendency to think more of myself than I ought to.
And so god had to put something in my life to remind me.
that, yeah, I I I gave you a privilege, but but don’t don’t think
wrong about yourself.
I wonder if anybody knows anybody who thinks wrong about themselves. You got a little money, man.
You got a little job now. You’re driving a nice car now. You’re living a nice home now.
People put a title in front of your name now, and they got the wrong idea.
So what god has to do is he has to bring things into our lives.
And even if that means the devil to keep you from exalting yourself.
He says, because of this unique experience, When god has bumped you up, giving you opportunities and privileges,
giving you recognition and significance.
He wants to make sure you don’t forget where that came or when he plans to bump you up.
Maybe you haven’t arrived there now, but he wants you thinking right before you get there.
He allows a thorn.
He calls it It was given to me a thorn in the flesh.
Now Paul does not tell us exactly what the form is.
There are a number of options. In Galatians chapter 4 verse 15.
He talks about the need for new eyes. He had a sight,
a vision problem. So it could have been a physical illness that was a thorn in the flesh.
But he also calls it a messenger of Satan,
a thorny person in your life.
That’s why he could talk in verse 10 about insults.
So it can be a circumstance, a situation.
It can be a person or a problem.
It can be an illness, But the one thing that’s true about it is that it is nagging you to death.
It is driving you nuts.
because he says it tormented me. It it created misery in my life.
And then he calls it a messenger of Satan.
And he says, the messenger of Satan was given to me.
He calls it a gift.
Has god gifted the devil to anybody in here today?
You say, but when I’m going through it, nothing but the devil.
Yeah. And god gave him to you. A messenger of Satan?
Yes. A representative of hell was given to me by god.
And he says there was a spiritual purpose to this hellish invasion on my life, to keep me from exhausting myself because the number one sin
in the Bible is pride. Thinking more of yourself than you ought to.
So what god did is, Paul, you have a propensity to pride.
And so I need to help you So I have given room for the devil to pick you, stick you, needle you through a problem, a pain, or a circumstance so that you will be dependent on me
to keep you from exhausting yourself.
The more you wanna hear from god, the more humble you gotta be before god.
If you get so saditty, in your view of yourself, God will seek Satan on you.
He will seek the devil on you to remind you that you have limitations.
You got things that he can let happen to you that your name can’t fix, that your money can’t fix, that your power can’t fix, that your privileges can’t fix, he will sick the devil on you if you’re his child to humble
you, to keep you, force you. from exalting yourself.
He says, concerning this, this thorn, this needle this irritant that’s keeping me in prison.
because that’s what a thorn does and what don’t
go away, you feel like a hostage to your problem. You feel like
You know, you’re you’re behind bars.
Concerning this thorn, I employed the lord three times that it might leave me.
I prayed about it.
I talked to god about it. I I wasn’t I wasn’t just just ignoring it.
I I made this a spiritual problem. Uh, and and I didn’t just ask. I employed.
I’m begging for relief. Anybody begging for relief from something today? You begging for relief.
In other words, this thing has been this deep, this long, and you’re employing. Do something god.
because it hurts so mad. And it goes the needle goes so deep.
He said to me,
in verse 9, my grace is sufficient for you.
Did you read that? is sufficient for you.
Okay. So here it is.
When god gives you a thorn for your spiritual it, even if the thorn is provided by the devil, even if it’s a messenger of Satan, it’s for spiritual benefit to keep you from exalting yourself.
Because once you exalt yourself, now you’re the enemy of god. Yeah.
because now you didn’t think more of yourself, thought more of yourself than you ought to.
He says, I am not going to
give you the answer to your prayer right now.
I pray Paul said that it might leave.
God says, my grace is sufficient.
I’m not going to give you the answer to your request but I’m not gonna renew ignore it either.
My grace is sufficient.
Doctor Evans will be right back after this important announcement
Grace is god doing for you what you cannot do for yourself.
Grace is the goodness of god that he displays to you and for you and on you whether or not he changes the circumstance.
The most potent verse on grace is found in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9, And this is a verse that you need to remember.
Verse 8 of 2nd Corinthians 9, and god is able to make all grace abound to you so that always having all sufficiency in everything you may have an abundance for every good work.
He says grace is so sufficient that it covers every scenario.
That’s what it’s called sufficient grace.
He says my grace, my favor, is sufficient for your circumstance.
He said to me, Let me stop there. He said to me,
when did god say something to you, Paul? when I pray.
See, a lot of times when we pray, if we pray,
We are looking for the answer, and when the answer does not come, the statement is god did not answer my prayer, but god does not only answer our prayer when he gives us what we want.
He simply said I employed that god gives me what I want, which is get rid of the devil, messing with me, he says, but he said.
See, some of the answers to our prayer is listening to what god says,
not just what he does.
All all Paul got was a word. Not a solution.
That’s why when you come to these doors, you want god to speak to you, whether or not he changes the situation right now for you.
He said he spoke. I heard his voice, and you can go a long way when you hear his voice.
Even if the situation hasn’t changed, if you can just know, he said it.
He was talking to me in my bible study. He was talking to me in the song.
He was talking to me in the sermon. I heard him say.
Nothing changed, but I heard him. He said to me, My
grace is sufficient. I have more, Paul, than enough resources for you to handle what I’ve allowed the devil to put you in.
If you’re here today, And you’ve got a situation that has not changed. Yeah.
An illness that he has not healed you up.
a job situation that he had not reversed. A financial situation that he has not yet met.
a relationship resolve that has not occurred.
And you have prayed to him. and the situation has stayed or even gotten worse.
Listen. Open your ears and say, god, here I am.
Speak to me. So what do you do when you’ve prayed?
God hasn’t answered the prayer, but you’re listening.
He, first of all, prays
And then he praises. Look at the middle of verse
9.
Most gladly come on, man. How you gonna be glad when you’re sad? Most gladly, therefore,
I would rather boast about my week and know you did end.
I will most gladly boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Did you hear what he said? I’m gonna brag on my problem.
I’m a brag on my pro he’s not bragging on the pain of his problem.
He’s bragging on the purpose of his problem.
god never tells us to be masochistic and just make ourselves miserable to
make us feel more spiritual.
No. When he found out that god was using the devil to make him better.
Make him better. A better Christian a better person, a better father of crime.
When he found out that god had a good purpose and a bad problem.
He said, oh, I’m bragging about this
because I’m bragging on why god is doing it, even though I do not prefer what god is doing.
He’s going to use this situation. He’s going to use this problem.
He’s going to use this difficulty, and I’m gonna come out of this thing. praise you god.
Bless your neck. I’m gonna brag about what the devil is doing to me.
Now that’s the change because I don’t know anybody that brags about a satanic attack.
I don’t know anybody that praises god that the devil is all over them.
But Paul says I’m gonna boast about my weakness.
because of what god’s gonna do in it and through it.
And he says in verse
10.
He says, at the end of verse 9, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
So you’re gonna get what here’s what grace is gonna give you when it coats it.
You’re gonna find you have power you didn’t know you had.
You’ve got ability you didn’t know you possessed.
What he says is if you will pray to hear his voice and if you will praise for his purpose, you’ll discover power
you didn’t know you had. You will get Holy Ghost assistance for your situation.
He says that the power of Christ may dwell in you.
See, you can have the power of Christ but it not be at home in you.
Well, if you’re a Christian crisis in your life, but he may not feel welcomed.
So the power of Christ may not be expressed. dwelling, making itself at home in you.
Therefore, somebody say therefore, first ten.
I am well content.
I am well content with weaknesses, insults and stressors, prosecutions difficulties for Christ’s sake.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. Okay. He brings up contentment.
The word content means to be at rest on the inside regardless of circumstances on the outside.
It has to do with a calming internally.
Paul says in Philippians chapter 4, versus 10 to 13.
He says I’ve learned to abound and a base. Sometimes I’m up, Sometimes I’m down.
She says, whether I’m a bass
or a band, whether I’m up or down, I have learned in whatsoever state I am in to be content because contentment is not tied to conditions.
You can be content when it’s sun shining.
You can be content when it’s raining. because something is happening internally at rest.
The only reason he can do that is because he’s both about his weaknesses.
He’s changed his perspective.
When you pray, James
15,
If any man needs wisdom, which means how to handle this situation, let him ask him god.
And god will give it to him. Let him ask him faith.
— believing that god will either give you some solution or give you the grace.
He will give you one of the
2.
If he doesn’t give you the solution, he will give you the sufficiency if you listen to his voice.
He says, I’m well content with my weaknesses.
Uh, I’m gonna How do by the way, how do you know that you have grown?
because he said I had to Paul said I have to learn to be content.
So you so so this is a lesson you gotta learn. God’s gonna help you.
I’m a learn to be content. I didn’t know when you have reached the point of basic contentment.
It is. that you are more thankful than you are complaining.
That’s how you know. How do
you learn to be content? You learn to be content through your gratitude.
So if you are facing a thorn that god has not removed, you need the flood of grace, grace cannot be earned.
It can only be given. God gives it but you must access it.
Ask god, how does he wanna use what you’re going through?
This week, I would love for
you to read lamentations chapter 3. That’s after Jeremiah because if the pages stick together, you’ll miss it.
lamentations chapter 3. The weeping profit spends the 1st 18
verses describing his pain. Yes. His hurt.
and even his disappointment, that god is not doing something.
He’s hurting in lamentations chapter 3 versus 1 through
18.
but then in verse 19, he switches.
Even though I’m disappointed, even though I’m hurt, even though I’m weary, even though there’s all this wrong around me, even though I’m crying, even though that he says, you are my hope.
You are my deliverer. I’m banking on your faithfulness. So let me tell you.
Let me tell you, you need to stop. I need to stop. We need to stop fake prayers. Yes.
Yes. Talking smack.
Yes. Yes.
Repeating the same phrases without even putting your mind or your heart into the discussion.
Uh-uh, that that you have done nothing. You got to be honest with god.
You have to be respectful, but you have to be honest. God, I’m hurting. God, I’m disappointed.
You ever responded yet. God, this is what I’m going through. God, this is what I need.
God, this is where I am. Yes. This is what’s going on in my life.
However, I will trust in the god of my salvation.
However, I praise you for your purpose.
However, I’m gonna glorify you because you’re still in charge.
even though things are out of control, I can tell you if god sent Satan because you are doing and living your life for Christ’s sake.
He wants to use the devil to make you a better Christian.
And one of the ways you know as we close, you know, you walk through the airport.
You see people sometimes, uh, carrying their luggage, but but most people don’t carry that luggage anymore because now there are wheels on the bottom of each of the bags.
Okay? Now you can carry your luggage, but that means you gotta bear your own weight.
But now that they put wheels on there, it doesn’t change how heavy the load is in the bag, but it changes your ability to handle it because you’re rolling it and you’re not trying to carry it.
If you’re here today and you tired of carrying your own load, if you’re here today and you can’t handle it because it’s too heavy.
I know somebody who got some wheels, and he will give you the ability to handle the weight that you’re having to carry by the devil that god is using to make you the person and Christian he has created you to be.