Fixing ourselves, fixing others

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

Colossians 1:29 (NLT)

That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

Paul like each of us was broken. He had weaknesses and handicaps like all of us. I suspect (though scripture is unclear on the subject) that he even struggled with earthly temptations. And like most of us who long to be free from these weaknesses, he had prayed for God to release him.Yet God decided to leave those weaknesses in place and work through Paul in spite of them.

Paul recognized that he personally didn't have the power to fix himself. Yet God didn't seem to be in a hurry to fix him. God seemingly was content to let the situation continue for a while, telling Paul "my grace is all you need."

Paul had to be content with not only that it was God who does the "fixing" - but that he does it only on his schedule. So as we travel this journey with God, we learn to accept these truths in our lives:

1. We are all broken in some way and in need of transformation (fixing).
2. That the kind of lasting transformation that we need can only be accomplished by God.
3. That God has his reasons and his schedule for accomplishing our transformation.

We come to accept these truths for ourselves with respect to our own brokenness. But here is the challenge for today. Do we accept these truths on behalf of others? Do we allow them to be "works-in-progress"? Do we believe that it is also God's job (and not ours) to do the fixing of the other broken people in our lives?

I know that far too many times in my life I have tried to "fix" what I believed was wrong with others. Often my efforts did more harm than help.

So.... if I can trust my life and transformation to God, can I trust the other people I love to him as well?

~ Truly Free