Grace Part 9: When does God provide His power?

God offers to give His power to us in a variety of situations. We are going to focus on three.

First, God provides His power when we are weary.
We can count on God’s power when we are weary. When are you weary? You get weary when you do work that you don’t like for longer than you like. You get weary when you are working hard to make ends meet and it is not working. You get weary when you are striving to find a perfect mate. You get weary when you are always striving with the mate you have. You get weary when struggling to train our children in the way they should go. You get weary when struggle to get your parents “get with it.” You get weary when you are trying to cope with the loss of health, the loss of a job, or the loss of a loved one. Loss can make us weary. Many things in life make us weary.

Nothing makes God weary.
Isaiah 40:28 (NIV) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
El Shaddai has unlimited energy. He wants to share his energy with us.
Isaiah 40:29, 31 NIV “He gives strength to the weary,” the prophet goes on to say…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”
Whenever you feel weary, God has made a promise. He offers a power that we can count on: “The Lord gives strength to the weary…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” [Isaiah 40:29,31 NIV

Second, God uses His power to help us when we are weak.
I can count on God’s power when I am weary. I can also count on His power when I’m weak. Every one of us has times when we are weak. We have times when we have nothing left to give. It happens in our relationships. You say, “I just don’t know what they want from me!” It happens between when parents raise children. Both parents and children say: “I don’t know what I can do!” It happens at work, you feel like you are in over your head. It happens when we are sick for a long time; you just cannot take it any longer. We feel weak whenever we feel inadequate. We feel weal whenever we think we have nothing left to offer.
Whenever we are weak, El Shaddai reminds us: “My power shows up best in weak people.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
The Apostle Paul was the first to hear those words. He was in a situation he felt powerless to change. He had tried everything. Three times he had begged the Lord in prayer. Nothing worked. That was when he heard God say: “My power shows up best in weak people” [2 Corinthians 12:9]. That is what God says to us. We are at the end of our rope. That is when we see His power.

Third, God gives us His power when we wrestle with temptation.
I can count on God’s power when I am weary. I can count on God’s power when I am weak. I can count on God’s power when I wrestle with temptation.
We can count on God’s power when we are wrestling with temptation. Most of us face more than enough temptation. It always comes when we feel weak. That weakness makes us feel weary.
It is a struggle, isn’t it? It can be a struggle to be honest in school and at work. It can be a struggle to remain faithful in everything. It can be a struggle to raise our children right. It can be a struggle to keep God first in a society that keeps putting “things” in our way. It can be a struggle to follow God’s leading in a culture that urges each of us to “do our own thing”. El Shaddai knows this. That is why He wants to share His power with us.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB95 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.