Today we would be looking at how God takes our weaknesses and turns it into strength.
11:30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the apeople had marched around them for seven days.
11:31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
11:32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,
11:33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
11:34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
11:35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
11:36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.
11:37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated
11:38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
11:39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.
11:40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Hebrews 11:30-40
From the passage above we are given a long list of people who God took their negative experiences and turned them into positive things.
An author Ernest Hemingway once wrote
'Life breaks us all but many are made strong at the broken places'
He was trying to say that some people are able to recover from terrible experiences and become stronger than they were before. When faced with difficult challenges we have the ability to persevere now i am talking about man generally, but we that are Christians are special in a way that we draw our strength from Christ and he has given us the required grace to pass through whatever difficult circumstance that might come our way. Nothing that happens to a child of God cannot be transformed by God. He has absolute power over everything and can change any circumstances. But there is only one requirement and it is that we link ourselves to his power.
Let's quickly take a look at Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers but God turned his weakness into strength
45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.
45:2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it.
45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!
45:5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
45:6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.
45:7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
45:8 "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Genesis 45:1-8
Joseph made it know to his brothers that it was for a reason he was sold into slavery and that they should not be afraid. Who would have thought that a prisoner from another country could rule over Egypt but God makes everything perfect in his own time like Joseph we should realize that God has a plan for our lives and whatever we are passing through is only a testing of our faith.
Has anything happened to you making you spiritually or psychologically weak? Then take heart God specializes in matching his ability with your disability. He will make sure that his name is glorified through every circumstance you might be passing through.