THE THORN. THE PAIN. THE SECRET RICHES.

If one were to tell you that a vast oil reservoir were just beneath your back yard and for you to drill would result in wealth for the rest of your life, would you be interested in hearing more of what it would take to claim it?  So it is with another part of our walk.  It is rich.  It is thorough.  Yet, it is a secret that, even when proclaimed, no one wants.

There is a quality, or maybe a characteristic, that 100% of men and women possess. Not only do we not notice it as power; but when it is noted we do our best to shed ourselves of it.  In essence we reject the strongest thing about our lives; not occasionally, but repeatedly.  I speak of our weaknesses.

Weakness is a secret power which only works in the Kingdom of God.  This is fact. Read II Corinthians 12:7-11.  If we will believe it we will become remarkably--never to get over it--blessed.  Note these truths:

1. Thorns are present to keep us from believing we can do life on our own.
2. Our power is always found in our weaknesses.
3. Contentment comes, when understanding that we are nobodies, through the very things that tend to make us miserable; weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties.

Note: each of the miseries listed in #3 are the very things that usually cause us to shut down; not open up.  These are the nightmares to our otherwise decent lives...we think. We are so upside-down with God's kingdom that we believe that if we could but shed these struggles we would be...content.  

The opposite, however, is remarkably true.  It would be good to note that we actually spend a significant part of our awake time trying to rid ourselves of the very things which are gold to our walk.  W A K E  U P  T O  T H I S  S E C R E T because the trail of hardship isn't going to change.  Our perception of it must.

Power is never within our self-confidence for eventually it will begin to leak.  A firing here, a divorce there, a mistake elsewhere might leave one feeling like a failure.  While we don't seek such moments, what we could do with them and a wide range of other disappointments is to yield to the secret of weaknesses.

These and other thorns jab, puncture, and drain the heart.  Be directed to look upon the Cross where the Son of God is being tortured.  Begin to list the anguish, the misery, and the gasping for oxygen.  Yes, watch his best friends flee from the murder scene despondent as Jesus' aforementioned promises seem to be dissipating before their very eyes.  He....he....died.

The secret of life is always found within the framework of things going wrong.  Some believe it.  Others fight against it.  Power is still perfected in weakness.  There is not better route to success.