When I am weak, then I am strong

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Have you ever had to lay out the good and bad events that have happened in your life? That is what I had to do for one of my seminary classes two weeks ago. My life timeline looks like this (show the slide or jpg of the timeline). Our assignment was to Brainstorm people, events, and circumstances that have been influential in your life. Brainstorm struggles and painful or negative experiences and put them on a different color note. Then we were to put them into chapters of our life and finally what we have learned from the events of our life for each chapter. If I wanted to be detailed I could have put up more good and bad events in life, but I chose the bigger events. The last chapter that I created is about 35 years and most of the students in the class have not even lived that long yet.

2 Cor 12: 9-10

I am weak and not able to do God’s work.
I can’t do what I used to do and I am anguished over it.
I can do what other people can do, why me Lord?
Why did you make me like this Lord?
Moses and being sent by God to confront Pharaoh and release the Israelites

Ex 4: 1

v 10 But Moses replied to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant—because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish.”,

11 The LORD said to him, “Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.”

13 Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

Ex5: 22

My weaknesses from my timeline
Hives, swollen knees, reading issue- third grade fifth grade.
Back to my timeline. I don’t know about you but I do not take pleasure in my weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. However, as I reviewed my life timeline in detail I found that every negative experience that I put in my timeline God has used to my benefit for Christ’s sake. In other words. He has used the painful circumstances to make me more useful for his purposes. I can now see his hand on every negative event and how he used them for my godly improvement.
I am not telling you that every negative event in your life is going to improve you for Gods glory. We know that prior to becoming a Christian and asking Jesus to lead your life from then on the negative experiences can be used to draw you near to God.
God says in Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.” His desire is for you to be saved through Jesus. God draws near to you during a negative experience in the hopes that one day you will be saved, born again and the gospel of John puts it.
After you become one of his children the Lord uses negative experiences as discipline. Discipline means to “improve you for his purposes and for your eternal benefit if you all those experiences to develop perseverance and godly character”
Hebrews 12:7 “Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?”
We commonly associate being disciplined with pain and disappointment by the one handing out the discipline. That is not how God uses discipline by in large. If you have sinned there is commonly pain and consequences because sin has negative consequences. God is encouraging you not sin, in part, so you can avoid the negative consequences. If you have not sinned yet are experiencing painful situations God can use them to improve you.
Paddling in 2nd and 3rd grade. This created in me empathy for those being picked on unfairly or being belittled.
Poor as a grad student:
Calling me to my knees
Send money to my friends
3. Walking to church

Is 40: 28

1 Cor 2: 3

Phil 4: 12

Eph 6: 10

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