Place of Need

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. (Isaiah 40:28, NRS)

If I didn't have a personal relationship with God, I would. I have the opportunity to meet with people who face difficult and downright horrible experiences. And, yet, they are able to persevere and move through the circumstance with unrelenting hope and faith.

How do they do it? Simply put, God meets an individual in their place of need.

How is it possible to meet God, who is beyond what humanity can fully comprehend?

Humanity often defines God through limited comprehension and abilities. Ummm. . . the thing is . . . we think in terms of time and space, which God transcends. So, we struggle understanding that God comes into our defined time and space, allowing us to participate and interact in a personal relationship with the all-powerful Creator of the universe.

How does God meet us in our time and space?

We, fragile as a clay pot is fragile, are promised that difficult circumstances will not crush us, drive us to depair, leave us forsaken, or destroy us because of the life of Christ abiding within our being. God meets us in our place of need:
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:7-10, NRS)

Isaiah states the concept in a succinct way: He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

So, how do we receive God in our place of need?
It is a choice to receive the unmeasured grace of Christ, who actively works in and through our life with power that is beyond comprehension. When we invite Christ into our life, including our experiences, God will meet us in our place of need:
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9, NRS)

Receive the Apostle Paul's prayer for Christ-followers to meet God at their place of need:
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.(Ephesians 3:16-21, NRS)

Remain open to the work of God at the place of your need.
Acknowledge your weakness and the strength of the presence of Christ.
Experience the power of Christ in the place of your need.

Learning with you to receive Christ at the place of need,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)