“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. 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.”
II Corinthians 12:9-10 NKJV
Have you been under attack by the enemy in different areas of your life? Are you suffering in your physical body, are you struggling financially, emotionally, is your faith being put to the test? I have a word from the Lord for you today. FLIP IT! Turn it back on the devil. If you have done everything you know scripturally all is well with your soul and Jesus. Flip it! Jesus said the thief comes but for three reasons: To steal, kill and destroy. He’s hitting you mentally trying to create doubt in your mind. He’s attacking you economically because he knows you’re a tither, he’s attacking you physically because he knows you treat your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Flip it. Do what he thought Job wouldn’t do, and begin to worship and praise Jesus with every ounce of strength you have.
Keep giving, keep getting up, keep confessing the Word of God over every area of your life. Don’t buy into his lies and start asking “why?” Instead ask the Holy Spirit to show you the greater purpose behind the attack. Believe me, there is one, and the problem is not with you. You must be aggravating the devil for him to be going after you. So flip it! Paul was given a messenger from Satan not to do what Satan thought he was going to do. Go read the entire chapter. He asked the Lord three times to remove it. Three times the answer was the same. Trust My Grace! My Grace is sufficient for every need. Why is God’s Grace so powerful in our lives? Because it’s His enabling power to do what we cannot in our fleshy efforts. It’s supernatural dunamis power from God Himself to aid us in our weaknesses. It’s perfect strength.
Once the apostle Paul received the revelation of God’s grace, he immediately flipped it. He pivots from asking for the attack to be removed, to saying “go ahead Satan, make my day!” He said there’s purpose in this? Well I’d rather glory, take pleasure in, these infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions and distresses, if it means that the dunamis or dynamic power of Christ will be evident in me. He flipped it. If you follow Paul’s ministry life, this man was fearless. At one point he said this:
“For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”
Galatians 6:3-5, 17 NKJV
You may read the entire chapter. But he was saying in essence, been there done that, I have the proof of what I’ve suffered. So back off! Job’s friends tried to link what he was going through to some kind of sin in his life. No doubt there were some who thought Paul’s suffering was caused by the same. But he wasn’t about to lose sight of the revelation. God’s grace was all he needed to overcome everything he faced. Don’t you see it? Everything he said he’d rather boast in is what you may be facing right now. He said ‘don’t be bothered by it, you’ve prayed long enough, now Flip it!‘ His Grace is sufficient, His strength is perfect, ours is not. So boast. Boast so Jesus’ power will rest in your situation.
What’s the bigger picture? Ask the Holy Spirit. He told Paul- He’ll tell you. I’ve learned to do that instead of asking why me? Whatever He permits cannot take us out. We’ll receive double for our trouble. Find the greater good in His grace and let His power rest on you. Flip it on the devil. He can’t hang where there’s praise going forth. He can’t hang when the Word is prevalent in your mouth, he can’t hang when you begin to say like Paul I won’t let you bother me. He can’t hang when you turn pressure into praise! When I ended up in the hospital a few years ago I said “God why am I here? Who needs you?” When I had no money I asked why when I was a giver? He said, “praise me!” So I did. The circumstances didn’t change right away but I certainly did. That’s what happened to Paul. His thorn in the flesh didn’t go away immediately, but he emerged a changed man, why? He flipped it.
Let’s change the way we view our circumstances. Let’s change the questions we ask. Let’s focus on His grace. He told me once that worrying comes from looking into tomorrow. He said there was no grace there. That His grace is supplied daily for the need of that day. Yes, it’s hard. No one is denying what you or I am going through. But His answer is still the same. My grace is sufficient for you. So let’s flip it on the devil and see what God will do through His all sufficient grace.
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
November 3, 2021