God, Teach me how to walk barefoot!

Tom Crow just sent me a little devotional thought by David Jeremiah on weakness, using:

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 
Isaiah 40:29 

 There is no doubt that when I am weak and helpless, I depend on God more and His Strength is always there for me. I like  David's secondary scripture even more, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

The Thorn in the Flesh

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

From day to day in my new life in Costa Rica, I feel weak, unable to communicate, unable to get even some basic things accomplished, then I breathe deeply, say "What? Me worry?" and then turn it over to God and live by faith.

All my life I have tried to be organized, plan ahead, and accomplish many lofty goals. Most of my plans have never been completed, but God has blessed me with serendipities that I would never have thought of! As I responded back to Tom:

The American culture seems to teach us to not admit weaknesses or faults but rather lift ourselves by our own boot straps while God wants to teach us how to walk barefoot. :-) No scripture reference for that Charlieism. But I do enjoy walking in sandals!   :-)

"When I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Cor. 12:10

  

Weak and Wise

The devotionals I've read for the last two nights bring up an interesting contrast that appears to be a contradiction, yet in such confusion God seems to work and that is what I'm expecting from Him right now. Thursday night the Scripture verse was 2 Corinthians 12:9, HCSB,

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

This is a promise I have claimed many times in my weaknesses and sometimes foolishness. It means I trust Him more than myself and in so doing things tend to go much better! In other words, I seek his will and try to follow it. Then the next night I get this verse, Ephesians 5:17, HCSB, 

 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Wow! They do go together, even though some translations talk about wisdom in the second passage and that is not how I feel when I feel weak. Telling me to understand what the Lord's will is seems lacking when that is what I want, but not always sure what His will is. So I just trust Him and wait to see what happens as I try to be like Jesus in all my relationships and praise God in nature and adventure. As Henry David Thoreau said, "My profession is to always find God in nature." And that will be one of my purposes in Costa Rica!

Even though I continue to make lists and try to plan out all the details for the move to Costa Rica, as I did with the pros and cons of the decision, I still feel weak at times and pray that I am doing His will and he will renew my desire to serve him in a new land with new people. opportunities and challenges. And that is what I'm expecting as I let Him turn my weakness to wisdom, because I depend on Him more than all my planning and preparation. Wow! It's about to happen! I'm excited and enthusiasm is from God!