Have you ever had the horrible day when all you can say is “Today was a bad day”?
Recently I had a bad day. Nothing seemed to go right. Work, knee pain, angry drivers, parenting a pre-teen, call to mom, gym time…all of it seemed to have some horrible moment. I literally wanted to weep in frustration, anger, and pain.
Ernest Hemingway said, “life breaks all of us…”
I certainly felt that life was doing it’s very best to break me.
I wanted all the badness (is that a word?) removed from that day. In that regard, I relate to Paul and his thorn in the flesh. In 2 Corinthians he asked the Lord three separate times for the thorn to be removed.
In response to his plea, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NASB), “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I delight in weakness, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ: for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Ponder that for a moment; ”my grace is sufficient for you…”
Well, yes God, your grace is sufficient for me. But in the moment, it sometimes doesn’t feel as though my heart can embrace that phrase. Continue reading…
“For power is perfected in weakness…” If I’m feeling despair, frustration, or anger, I am essentially being perfected in that weakness. Paul goes on to write that he’d rather boast about that weakness in order to glorify the power of Christ. He’s excited to be weak so that he becomes stronger. Interesting concept.
The more and more I dive into the Word, the more and more I begin to understand that reading scripture for context is so very important. In the midst of a bad day, it would be easy to fall back on a portion of scripture which states that His grace is enough. Maybe that would make me feel better…or maybe not.
However, when I continue the verse, I begin to understand that every experience can be used to worship the Lord. I can embrace His grace being enough, but if I embrace that when I’m weak, the Lord is working to make me stronger.
As Hemingway said, “life breaks all of us.” I believe there is purpose in that breaking. There is purpose in the bad days. The badness used for goodness, in order for me to grow into a more mature Christian.
Pray with me this week that the bad days of weakness become examples of your strength in Christ.
~Emily
Iron Porch 
Hemingway fought the demons of alcohol and depression until he couldn’t any longer, taking his life on his ranch. It amazes me at how some of our greatest artists, writers, actors, leaders and teachers have fought such intense personal battles, all the while inspiring them to create legendary works for generations.
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In addition to your revelations, I find a lot of meaning in the term boast in this verse. Boast = sharing with others + joy/celebration. Boasting is quite expected for positive things that happen, but Paul says to boast in our suffering. If you share + express joy about a moment of suffering, it will cause people to pause and ask why and how…a perfect opportunity to share the good news:)
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And Hemingway added “ that’s how the light gets in “. One of my favorite quotes! I’ve always wondered what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, and perhaps it was left a mystery so we all can relate to it by filling in the blank with our own maladies. I enjoy your Iron Porch and sit there often with you. Trisha
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I absolutely love this approach to viewing our bad days, our weaknesses, trials and tribulations. The last 2 1/2 years has been a very long road of bad days. But has also lead to alot of healing and leaning in to Christ to strengthen me and guide me through the murky waters of life’s situations.
Thank you so much for always sharing such wonderful analogies between your own struggles or life events and God’s Word. May God continue to bless Iron Porch.
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