Joshua’s Harbor

By Joshua

Strength from God

One passage of scripture that God has continually brought to my attention through numerous people, and continues to reveal to me, is 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10:

“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”.

I can relate to this passage Paul wrote because in my life’s experiences, when I have encountered very troubling times, which have physically and emotionally drained me, I found myself calling upon Jesus for strength. At which point I felt the Holy Spirit provide me with the necessary strength to press forward and not give up.

Looking back over the last two years when my brother and I were in the process of attaining restraining orders against our former family members who abused us, my brother and I observed our abusers, who lived an hour and a half away, in our neighborhood of residence on numerous occasions.  Their goal was to intimidate and use their appearance to threaten us to keep us from attending the trial and testifying in open court about the violence and abuse we had currently lived under.  However, both my brother and I, pushed through all of the intimidation and numerous threats by our abusers and testified under oath about the abuse we had sustained growing up, as our abusers sat and listened.

Receiving the 10 month restraining order by the judge was a victory that allowed me to know that I could be my own individual and no longer live as a controlled slave again.  During this time of my life, my prayer was “Jesus, I am giving this situation over to you, I ask that your will would be done in this situation and I ask that you would provide me with the necessary strength to press forward and not give up.”

Jesus used this long and difficult time to teach me patience and to trust in Him, which ultimately resulted in the tremendous growth of my faith in Him. For anyone who is currently facing any sort of difficult and/or nearly impossible circumstance, never give up and continue to place your trust in Jesus Christ and allow Him to work in your situation.