“Of such an one will I glory: yet of, myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth; but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me , My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:5-10
I have one point to make but it might take me a minute to make.
I keep reading and hearing Christians saying if you ask, you WILL receive. If you give, you WILL be rewarded.
There’s some truth to these types of comments but I think they always miss the parts of the verses that refer to being in God’s will. Being moldable to Him. To His desires, to His wants, to His commands.
These well-meaning Christians are missing that part, I believe.
Because what if it is God’s will for you to have an illness? A loss? A “thorn in the flesh” like Paul? To not be incredibly wealthy? To never be uncomfortable?
God is not the creator of evil but he does allow these types of things in our lives whether that be a consequence of our own actions and thoughts or from Satan like Paul says or what Job went through.
In these circumstances God gives us an opportunity to humble ourselves before Him and to allow His strength to work through our weakness. That’s something to be grateful for, right?
My daughter was born with half a heart nine years ago and man, did I pray for God to heal her heart. I prayed daily during my pregnancy that He would allow healing to happen in her body. You know what happened? Not only way she born with the half a heart but many other issues. Like two holes, a major heart murmur, and a kidney that was larger than the other.
Now get this, the kidney issue resolved on its own as she grew, but the extra heart issues allowed her to skip he first open heart surgery that was supposed to be done at a week old and she was able to wait to have her first surgery until she was seven months old. The holes were in the right spots to allow blood flow where it needed to go and the murmur kept the blood flow to the correct amount. This obviously wasn’t a permanent solution but it did buy us time for her body to grow.
So, point is… God doesn’t promise healing, prosperity, or an all-around perfect life; on the contrary, He promises persecution and hardships IN ORDER TO bring Him glory. At the end of my life I hope that people see that no matter the circumstance I tried to give all of my thanks and all of the glory in my successes to Him.
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The Millennial Mom 
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