So good to be back with everyone after a couple of weeks. And I'm not going to promise you that I won't be coughing. So I apologize in advance, but thank you so much for being here. Lots of new faces in the room. So thankful that you're here.

If you're joining us online, we'd love to have a chance to meet you on the way out. Our team will be just right out the back doors. Please stop by, say hello. We'd love to get a chance to meet you. I want to invite you to turn on your go to your advice or in your Bible to Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verse number nine.

As you go. As you saw in this video promo, we will be having our first marriage conference on October 25 and we announced this at date night last Sunday night. But I want to go ahead and just put another plug in for this. Go ahead now and sign up. You will want to do this.

We got to talking about how important it is for us to strengthen our marriages, whatever level you may be. Now, don't just think this is for young couples. If you've been married five years or 50 years, you can relearn things about your spouse, especially when it comes to speaking the language of love. You may be speaking the same language, but it may not be the same dialect. I shared the story that when I was in Scotland last week, I tried to go buy a stain rag.

They don't know what that is. Speaking the same language. I tried five different ways. I said, throw away T shirts, leftover towels. Like, the lady just looked at me and just said, go to the cleaning aisle.

I never got any stain rags. You may be speaking the language of love, but you may not be speaking the same dialect. And this doesn't just apply to your marriage. It applies to every relationship in your life that if you want to connect on a deeper level, speak the same language. So I want to encourage you to come.

And what I'm most excited about is it's not just somebody going to stand up here and say a bunch of good stuff to make you feel good. Doctors Les and Leslie Parrott will be joining us via Zoom and will be leading this conference. So before you come, those that register, you'll be doing an assessment. Guys, you will do the assessment too. And what it'll do is it'll take you and your spouse and kind of look at your assessments and go, oh, there's a red flag.

You need to work on this. And you'll leave with a plan on how to deepen Your marriage. And I really hope that you will take the time. Sign up today. And I checked, there is no Georgia Bulldog football that weekend.

No excuses. Would you stand with me as we read this very short passage as we come to a conclusion in our Upside down series, starting in verse number nine. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness most gladly. Therefore, I would rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. When I boast in my strengths, I am actually weaker.

You see that, right? Therefore I am well content. See how upside down this. I'm well content in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties. Wait.

Qualified for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. How upside down is that, Father? And speak to us today. You know that I can't preach without you.

You know nothing that's said in here will have any impact without you. You know that ministry is nothing without you. So Lord, call to us today and show us how weak we need to be in Jesus name, Amen. So let's talk about boasting weaknesses and thorns. When I was 15 or so years old, we had a three wheeler.

They probably outlawed them because of stupid things like I did. I lived on a dirt road and so I would take that three wheeler and I would wind it out, if you know what I'm talking about. I got it going as fast as I could. Three wheelers don't hold curves very well. And I went into the curve and started to slide.

It's probably why I had neck surgery 10 years ago, because I hit the ditch and I flipped that thing and landed right on my head. But that wasn't the worst of it. Went right into a briar patch. Oh, have you ever had somebody to pick a briar out of your back? Every inch of my back had a briar in it.

Now, if you ever look at a briar under a microscope, some of them have barbs. And the way they grow is they're kind of increasing out of the stem. They leave kind of these vertical lines so it actually lodges itself in. In fact, it'll dig deeper. It's like the barb on a stingray.

When it sticks you, it just keeps going deeper because of that barb. In our life and where Paul is, in this text, he talks about how God had put a thorn in his flesh. He called it a messenger of Satan given to humble him.

You and I have thorns in our flesh today, but we're not thankful for them. My three children are present, and I don't mind telling the story. I won't tell you which one it was. But I dreaded if one of my children came in and said, I got a splinter in my toe.

She's laughing. She knows who she is, because it was like an act of Congress to get that splinter before the needle even met the flesh. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The last thing that she did was thank God for the thorn in her flesh.

This is upside down. Paul had written two letters that we have to the Corinthians. In the first letter that he wrote to the Corinthians, he wrote to address a whole lot of messages. And before you think yourself sanctimonious and self righteous, we have the same messes in our church and in churches today. And we need to hear the word of the Lord and take to heart what's being addressed.

I mean, there was sexual immorality in the church. They were suing one another. They were exalting their gifts over each other. And the last thing they were doing was, was thinking about how they could love one another. And so after he writes that later, they didn't get the hint.

So Paul shows up. He paid them a visit. In fact, after he paid them a visit, they still didn't get it. And there's a missing letter between first and Second Corinthians. He references it in Second Corinthians.

He even says in chapter seven, I wrote to you and I know it brought you sorrow, but I'm not sorry it made you sorrowful because it produced repentance. They started to get it. And Paul wasn't going around bragging about his ministry and how many places that he had been. Paul wanted to brag about the quality of faith in the believers that he had led to Christ. But there was a problem.

You see, if you're going to reject the truth, you reject the source. And so they were questioning the apostolic office of Paul. Who do you think you are?

You need to send us a letter of recommendation so that we know that you're legit. Paul, you're telling us to do all these things. By what right do you have to say this?

Paul says, you are my letter. The power of God was evident to bring you out of absolute lostness into a relationship with Jesus.

And they, succumbing to temptation, were listening to Judaizers. If you don't know what a Judaizer is, it's someone who is trying to impart Judaic practices in addition to faith alone, be circumcised, follow the festivals, all these things, so that you can prove salvation. No, we're saved by faith alone and in Christ alone. And there were men in the church, possibly women too, that were boasting about their abilities, boasting about their successes in life, boasting. Remember we talked about this in Philippians 3, that Paul said, I count all things.

A loss, rubbish, trash, throw away so that I can gain the knowledge of Christ. Well, this here is no different. You see, Paul had already began to address this idea of boasting. In Chapter one. He said, if you're going to boast, boast in the Lord.

He quotes Jeremiah 9, 23, 24. Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, nor a mighty man boast of his might, or a rich man boast of his riches. But let him who boasts boast, boast that he understands and knows me, the Lord. So Paul would say, I don't want to know anything except Christ and him crucified for the Jew. I don't have to prove my works to you, to the Gentile.

I don't have to prove my wisdom to you.

Paul begins to recount his weaknesses. That's kind of odd, isn't it? Like when you ever been to an interview? And usually what they ask you is, they say, well, what are your strengths? What have you accomplished?

What do you bring to the table? What would it look like in church if instead of us giving you a spiritual gift test and a strength assessment, we gave you a weakness assessment?

You know why that would be beneficial? Or we just read it because where I'm weak is where he's strong. Where I'm most dependent and helpless is where God is most magnified and glorified. Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 5:12, he said, we're not commending ourselves to you again, you are our letter. And when he talked about, he says in Second Corinthians 7:14, Paul says his boasting wasn't in himself.

He actually was bragging on the Corinthians to his friend Titus. Never once did he in this process begin to brag on himself. But most scholars believe that chapters 10, 11, and 12 might be part of the missing letter between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and he picks up this idea of boasting in self. Some of you come in here today and you take a lot of stock and security in who you are. But can I tell you, in comparison to the God of the universe, you are nothing.

Your strength is Nothing. Your wisdom is nothing. Your accomplishments are nothing. God wants us to be fully empty, that he can fill us up. Fully empty.

Have you come to that place of dying to yourself where everything is gone? You see, he begins to kind of backwards boast. He says in 11:5 that he was inferior to the other apostles.

You know, that's not self deprecating. Like being weak doesn't mean you self deprecate and go, well, I'm dumb, I'm stupid. That's not what weakness is. That's not what embracing weakness is. He calls himself inferior because he didn't see Jesus.

He wasn't a believer in Christ when Christ was crucified and raised again. He met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He said, I'm unskilled in speech. He said, I worked among you for free. I wasn't asking for anything like these guys are that are boasting of themselves.

The others were claiming to be apostles and boasting in their appearance, their skill and in position. But Paul then goes on in 1121 to say, but to my shame, I must say that we have been weak by comparison. He said, all right, well, let's play the game. You want to play the game? Let's play the game.

Let me boast for a minute. He said, my pedigree and my legacy. He was an Israelite, a Benjamin, a Hebrew. But then he shifts it. He doesn't talk about the great messages he preached and the numbers of people he reached for.

The lost. He starts going, but you know what? I got beaten 30 with 39 lashes from a whip. Three times. I was beaten by rods five times.

I've been thrown in prison. I was stoned in Lystra and left for dead.

I was shipwrecked and on and on. He recounts all these negative things that have happened to him. And he concluded by saying, in 11:30, if I have to boast, I will boast in what pertains to my weakness.

That is really weird. In fact, it's upside down. You know, we learned weeks ago when Jesus flipped the table that what to us seems abnormal should be normal. That the kids kingdom of God came to flip that aspect of the world upside down. That if I want to live, what must I do?

I must die. That if I'm going to gain, I must lose. That if I'm going to change, I must be changed from the inside out, not the outside in. That if I'm going to be first, then I should be last. And all of that culminates today in this idea that if I want to be strong.

It's not going to be my strength, it's not going to be my accomplishments, it's not going to be my wisdom, it's not going to be my knowledge, it's not going to be my looks. It's going to be where I'm weak. And if I can't embrace my weakness, I will never experience the full strength that God wants to impart in my life. In Ephesians chapter 3:16, he prays that I may be strengthened in the inner man by the spirit of God. I can't achieve that.

I can't realize that in myself. I can't make it happen. I can only receive it. But I must not be like those that Jesus talked about in Matthew 6:1 who were glorifying their giving, their praying and their fasting because they received their external reward. What I want is an internal reward.

So Paul, pick up with me, if you don't mind. In chapter 12 he says boasting is necessary. It's necessary. We're going to boast in something. Am I going to boast in the Lord?

Am I boast in myself when I begin to change my thoughts, my thinking to where everything focuses back? Lord, in fact, think about this. Say you're talking to a friend and you say, you know, the Lord answered my prayer. When I prayed, I just shifted the attention to me.

You see that? Why not just leave it at the Lord answered my prayer. Did you pray 10 times or 1 time or 2 times or 15 years? Does it matter? Because if I focus on my work, I diminish my ability to tap into his strength.

You see, Paul flips this script. He talks about a man, I think, I believe he's talking about himself, who was caught up into the third heaven and has this out of body experience caught up into paradise. And he says in verse five, on behalf of such a man, I will boast. But on my own behalf I will not boast except in regard to my weaknesses. Guys, this is probably the most upside down aspect of that we've talked about.

Well, I go to church three times a week and I'm in four Bible studies and I've been a member of the church for 50 years. Okay, I want you to think for a moment in your life when you were at your most helpless and hopeless state ever.

Can I give you a secret? That's where God wants us. Well, that seems very bullish by God.

No, because when I let myself in the way, then it becomes about me. What did he say in Ephesians 2? 8, 9. We're saved by grace through faith. This is a gift of God so that no one can boast in any aspect.

That I begin to boast in my flesh. I diminished my strength.

When I am weak, then he is strong. It is a guarantee that no effort of my own will will ever accomplish anything. So I want you to think about Samson in the Book of Judges. You know, the Judges really didn't have it all together. Israel was so depraved that even those called to judge were really messed up.

Samson had taken the vow of the Nazirite which meant he didn't cut his hair. He wasn't supposed to drink wine, he wasn't supposed to be with women and touch dead carcasses. And he did it all. He flirted with despising the very covenant of God which was the source of his strength. And he loved women.

Can I just tell you parents, when you read through the Book of Judges with your kids, you need the G rated version because he was a womanizer and he gets caught up with this woman named Delilah. And the Philistines are putting her up to trying to find out what's the key to, to his strength. And nowhere in that text leading up to judges 16 do you see where he cried out to God.

He relied on his own strength and his anger. Folks in this culture today we see a lot of anger and we think that's going to accomplish something. Humility and weakness is what portrays the strength of our God, not the strength of my mouth.

You didn't pay for that one, but that one was good today, like Samson. Don't let us fall into the pride of our strengths and miss God. He tells his secret. The Philistines come in and cut his hair and his strength is gone because the covenant, the Venezuelan vow, was broken.

And they take him and they gouge out his eyes. So no longer does he have any strength. He has no vision and they put him to work today. I wonder what it would look like if in our life when our distresses, when our problems, we're going to talk more about that in just a second when they come. What would it look like if I just embrace those as weaknesses, in fact, be content with them.

That sounds so weird. Yes Lord, I'm content that I'm sick. Yes Lord, I'm content that my co worker makes fun of my Christianity. Yes Lord, I'm content that it seems like this problem will not go away. And it just keeps getting harder and harder and harder.

If I could just embrace my weakness and say, Lord, I can't Can I challenge you to change something in your praying? What if when you pray, instead of focusing on how eloquent you can or cannot be, what if you just say, God, I can't pray. I can't speak. I can't formulate the right ideas. Lord, I'm messed up.

My mind is a disarray. I can't control my emotions. I seem to speak when I shouldn't and I just go, God, I can't. Like, how liberating is it to admit to a holy, righteous God, good, powerful, strong, omnipotent God, that I can't? That's called humility.

And see, Paul goes on into this text. You'll follow with me. He said, for I don't want to boast. For if I do wish to boast, I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from this so that no one will credit me with more than he sees or hears in me.

He says, look at my life, not the stories that I tell. Some of you in this room, y' all can tell some good stories. I grew up the son of a truck driver. I heard some really tall tales, probably some stories I shouldn't have heard as a seven year old. But sitting in my dad's semi truck, riding down the road, he had a CB man, you heard some stories, 90% which were not true.

I learned a great lesson. Dad, I don't know if you're listening, but never correct your father when he's telling a story or you will have a thorn in your flesh. It's called a belt. Just kidding. He did not spank me for that.

I deserved other spankings for other things. But he goes into this and he talks about, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was gifts given me. A thorn in the flesh. Now, there's lots of theories of what that thorn was. Some scholars believe it was a temptation.

I don't buy that one. Because James, chapter one says that God can't be tempted. Neither does he tempt man. So I don't believe it's temptation. Physical infirmity, most likely.

But I want you to notice something. He says a messenger of Satan was sent to torment me. God didn't send Satan. But I'm telling you, whatever going on in your life, there's always a demon hiding right around you to try to discourage your faith. But I also want to say this.

Some of the things that's going on in your life has nothing to do with Satan. You did it yourself.

Stop blaming Satan for the things that you've done. And then you get mad at God when He doesn't rescue you out of it.

That thorn in the flesh may not be the thorn in the flesh. It may just be the repercussions of what you've done. But aren't you glad that God is gracious enough to get us even out of that stuff? Aren't you glad that God freely forgives your sin? Aren't you glad that God gives you new life?

But you know what? Here's what I've learned, and this is what we see in this text. He said, I asked God three times that it might leave me. Point number one. You have to realize that God doesn't always answer my prayer the way that I think he's going to answer it.

Realize that answers to prayer may differ from my personal expectations. God's answer here was no, no, and no. He said. And he said to me, it's in perfect tense. God had nothing else to say about the matter.

He completely said what he needed to say. But what did he say? What was it that he said? He said, my grace is sufficient for you. His grace is the foundation on which we're saved.

The means by which we connect with God. Therefore the means by which we receive. Receive his power. It's his grace, not positive thinking, not something we can muster, that brings his strength.

When all is falling apart in your life, know that the grace of God never changes.

Look at the birds in the air and how they don't toil nor spin, nor but your heavenly Father feeds them. And look at the flowers of the field and how beautiful they are. They don't dress themselves, but God dresses them. How much more will God do for you? But there's a condition.

Matthew 6:33 but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All these things will be added to you. He's called us to seek Him. When David wrote the words in Psalm 23, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. You know how he had confidence in that?

Because he had been in the valley of the shadow of death before Saul pursued him, wanting to kill him. Later in life, his own son pursued him to kill him. He knew what it was like to be in the valley of the shadow of death. And for you and I, sometimes God's not going to pluck us out of the valley. God's not going to send us an air conditioner.

He may not even let. He's not going to grow a little leaf for you to sit under because he has a purpose to keep you from exalting yourself.

There can't be two kings in a kingdom.

I think it's time for some of us to take our crowns and throw them at the feet of the king. And when we do, verse goes on to say, for power is perfected in weaknesses. I'm not perfected when God takes my strength and makes it better. I'm not perfected when God takes my ability and makes them better. Perfection comes as God is working in me.

Paul even wrote in Philippians 3. Not that I have been perfected yet. I press on for the goal of the upward call of God. What's your path? If God's got you on the path and bad things happen, does that mean you just jump ship?

Here's what I'm worried about. In our day and time, I'm afraid that we're so selfish, focused and on this path that all I'm wanting to do is be fulfilled in life that I miss the opportunity to love the people around me. Church. Going to church is about me. Studying the Bible is about me.

Praying is about me. And then when God doesn't answer, I'm ready. All right, God, I prayed and you didn't come through for me.

What if the no in your life is God's way of keeping you close to him? Most gladly. Therefore, I would rather boast about my weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Point number two, discover contentment in God's grace. I just want to stop right there.

That's the only thing that will bring satisfaction. Are you satisfied in your relationship with Jesus Christ? And if you're not satisfied, if you're doing a whole bunch of work to try to get satisfied, you've missed where Jesus said, come to me, all of you who are heavy laden, and I will give you more to do. That's not what he said. What did he say?

I will give you rest. Are you tired? You're tired because you're doing things in your own strength. And the more you do it in your own strength, the weaker you are. Have y' all seen the reel where these two big old buff guys are in there and they've got all these plates and they're gonna do some deadlifts.

And the janitor, skinny janitor like me is up in there with a broom and he goes over and deadlifts that. And the guys are like, what? Like, they're just blown away. It's not always the outward appearance that shows the heart. See, if I discover contentment in God's grace, it's because power is perfected in my weaknesses, not my personal effort.

Look back at the Scripture with me again. He said that power is perfected in weakness. That's a singular term. That's a label. I know this may hurt your pride, but you need to hear it.

You are weak. You may not know it and you may not embrace it, but the quicker that you do, the quicker you're going to experience the power of God. Because if your strength is in the way, God's strength can't press through. It's kind of like when I would sit there with my daughter and try to get that splinter out of her toe. And before the needle would even get, she grabbed my hand.

How many of us are grabbing the hands of God? We want so bad for that thorn to be out of our flesh. We'll do anything to get that thorn out of our flesh rather than finding contentment that God is with me through the journey. You know the poem the Footprints in the Sand? Why was the man mad in the poem the Footprints in the Sand?

Because when he looked at the timeline of his life, he saw through his life two sets of footprints, his and God's. But when bad things came, there was only one set. And he got mad at God. Some of you today are mad at God because you got a thorn in the flesh. And he has said no a few times.

And so God answers him and says, well, it was in those times that I picked you up and I carried you. Look at the text. He says, I will rather boast about my weaknesses here. Paul does not refer to to the many, many ways. He does refer to the many, many ways he fell short how he could not.

Rather than trying to prove that he could see, the greatest phrase again we can pray is, I can't God, I can't obey. I can't be perfect. I can't keep my mind straight. I can't regulate my emotions. I can't see the big picture.

I can't get over this. I can't forgive. I can't take one more step.

Paul, in another book, addresses this idea of contentment in Philippians chapter 4, verses 11 through 13. A very misquoted verse, might I add, if you had my class back in the fall. Because he says this, not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in. And he's talking about the generosity of the Philippians to give to him, to take care of him. He says this.

I know how to get along in humble means. And I know how to to live in prosperity in every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, of having abundance and suffering needs. You catch that? I have learned the secret of contentment.

That whether I'm starving or whether I have abundance, I'm content. Content in what? In the grace of God.

If God, if this path leads me to death, I'm gonna open my eyes in heaven and see my Savior. But if not, it's a great way that God will be glorified in his provision. That is a win win situation. Next time you find yourself in the pit, when you find yourself in a situation that you just cannot endure anymore, think to yourself, my faith in Christ means I will be with him if this takes my life. But if it does not, then God still has a purpose for me.

To declare his glory, to declare his gospel. May I be content in whatever situation I am. And I know in this room some of you are in some dire situations. And these things are not said to diminish the suffering you're in. I'm saying look at the suffering and let it be a platform for which you can declare the almighty greatness of our God.

Have you ever heard of a man named Horatio Spafford? He was a lawyer and a Presbyterian elder. And within three years he experienced two great losses. In 1871, he lost his fire. He lost his house and his wealth in the great fire of Chicago.

And just two years later, his wife and his four daughters were on a journey across the ocean. He lost his 12, 7, 5 and 2 year old daughters in a shipwreck. His wife survived sending a telegraph back home and said, saved alone.

A few months later, he journeyed that same route, going across the Atlantic. And they came to the place where the ship had sank. And in absolute brokenness, he said, when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, you have taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. Will you today acknowledge this idea that we need to embrace our weaknesses?

Number three. I'm going to kind of go a little bit faster now, all right? Boast in weaknesses to display the power of Christ, not simply the removal of temporary suffering. We do not like to be uncomfortable in America.

We want our cake and our ice cream too.

But the sufferings that he lists in this verse have nothing to do with me opening a box of Cheerios and them spilling on the floor has Nothing to do with me getting up on a morning and my car not starting. Listen to what he says. He says, therefore I am, well, content. You know where else that word is used? When Jesus was being baptized and God said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well, content, perfected.

Well, what's he content in? What did he say? Content in weaknesses.

Like, I look at my life and I realize I fall short, I fall short. I fall short. I fall short. I fall short, I fall short. I'm weak with insults, these verbal attacks, with distresses.

These are those situations that you find yourself in where things aren't really going the way you want them to go. They won't resolve with persecutions and with distresses, but it's qualified. What does those last three words say, for Christ's sake? None of us in this room could say that we have met all five of those for the sake of Christ. And I would argue that we probably have never seen the full power of God displayed in our life because of it.

With weaknesses, we have physical infirmity. With insults we have unwelcome words. With distresses, we have unmet needs. With persecution, we have physical oppression. And with these difficulties, we have unresolved tension.

But if I'm thinking the kingdom of God first, if I seek his kingdom first, he said he'd add all these things to me, did he not? Did he not say in Ephesians 3:20, now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we ask or think, according to his power at work in us, it's not my power. I don't have a generator. I don't have an alternator. There's not a plant living inside of me.

It's the outward power of God working in my life, resting on me. I want to boast in my weaknesses so that the power of God can be displayed as he works in my life, what if your unanswered prayer is actually the answer? What if you started flipping the script, turning it upside down and saying, God, I don't like that I have tension with this person. But thank you that you've put them in my life.

How would that change your thinking? I tell you one thing. It'll do. It'll help you stop hating them. You'll start thinking more about God.

How can you bless them and work through their life? What if. Point number four. I embrace my weakness instead of my own personal strength to experience divine power? He says, for when I am weak, that is the.

That is a conditional construction. For if I am Weak. I know I'm weak. The problem is I don't know that I'm weak. Problem is, I think I can handle it on my own.

What would it look like in your life if you declared yourself weak and incapable? What if in your life and praying, you say, God, I simply can't. Because when that happens, he says, then I am strong. Why? Because he suffered.

No. How is it that James could Write in James 1:2? Consider it all joy, brethren, when you encounter various trials, that's upside down. Thank you, Lord, that I'm hurting. Thank you, Lord, that I'm sick.

Change what you say. What if you said, thank you, Lord, that you will reveal yourself glorious in this? See, I'm right side up when I embrace my weaknesses to gain his strength. See, Samson didn't know what he didn't know till he was humbled.

And when they brought him into the house and put him between the pillars, we finally get to hear him pray. And he says, o Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this one time, oh, God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines. For my eyes, even though there's still this sprinkling of selfishness in his heart, he knew his strength did not come from himself. And he grabbed those pillars and he pulled them down. And God was glorified.

What is your thorn today? If he's not taking it, why not ask him to help you live through it? Your contentment? What's in your life right now that you're trying to solve in your own strength? What if you came down this morning to this altar and said, you know what, Lord, I give up.

Here's the white flag. I give up. I give up, Lord. I'm tired of doing it on my own. What if in those scenarios that I mentioned, that instead of begging God to take the thorn, what if you started being content with the.

The thorn that takes a level of spiritual maturity that you cannot achieve on your own? And what about your person? You and I are weak in every way. But what would it look like today if we declared to God that I want to die to myself, Exchange my life for his? Let him change me from the inside out, Seek to give everything up for his glory.

Embrace my weakness to be last so I can be first, so that God might be glorified in the gospel, preached with words and without them. So, Lord, as we go into this decision time in worship, would you speak to our hearts? I don't need to tell them what to do, Lord. You need to tell them what to do. As they submit in their weaknesses to you.

We ask God that you would do a mighty work and reveal your strength and power. In Jesus name, amen.