My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9

• The Supreme Court recently rendered a decision that puts the law of the land squarely in opposition to God’s will for human beings. What does this verse say to people who feel that this decision puts them in the crosshairs of earthly power?
• We all sin. We all struggle with the consequences of sin. Daily life sometimes feels like walking on broken glass. What does God promise us?
• When circumstances are incomprehensible, they also feel unbearable. To such situations, Luther said:

When the murder of John the Baptist was announced, that horrible crime, [Jesus] was silent, went away into the desert, fed the people, and did not make an issue of it, but only preached the Word and did His duty. Christian wisdom, therefore, means to commit oneself to the power of God and to turn one’s cause over to Him who judges justly. A Christian can indeed, by the office of the Word, judge sin, but he should not raise his hand against it unless he is compelled to do so by God or commanded by the Word. And so when you are alone and unable to set everything right and straight, commit your cause to Him who has more powers and who alone can do everything.”
Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 15 : Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Last Words of David, 2 Samuel 23:1-7, ed. J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Luther’s Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1972). Ec 1:16.

How do Luther’s comments correlate with the teaching in today’s verse? Where is the comfort in it?

• Secularists deny the existence of a spiritual realm. They teach that our only recourse in life is to our own strength. How do you answer a secular thinker who scorns your faith and belittles your willingness to trust your well-being to a power he cannot see?

 

By Katherine Harms, author of Oceans of Love available for Kindle at Amazon.com.

Image: Torah Scroll
Source:  http://library.duke.edu/exhibits/hebrewbible/torah.html
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0