In my morning meditations, I have a mantra: “God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness.”

This phrase is based on Verse 9 of Second Corinthians Chapter 12.

The Apostle Paul is telling us that he had a “thorn in the flesh”.

We are not told what his “thorn in the flesh” was. As with other times that the meaning of the Bible is ambiguous, I like the ambiguity.

It means that we aren’t limited to applying the principle in only one context—to only one kind of “thorn in the flesh”.

We can apply the principle in many different times and circumstances.

In Paul’s case, he tells us: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take [the thorn in the flesh] away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In recent weeks, I have sometimes changed this mantra as I meditate upon it. Instead of thinking “God’s Strength” is made perfect in my weakness, I’ve thought “God’s Hesed” is made perfect in my weakness.

After making this “mistake” a number of times, I began to ask, “Why?”

I realized that I—like many people—automatically equate strength with worldly strength. Economic power. Religious power. Military power.

But seeking for God’s strength to be made perfect in the Power of Money, the Power of Religion, and the Power of the Kingdoms of this World is exactly the kind of temptation that Jesus overcame near the beginning of his public ministry. (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).

In contrast, God’s “Strength” is “Hesed”.

As you can read in my series of blogs about hesed listed below in the READ MORE section, the word hesed in Hebrew is translated a number of ways in English:

     —Faithfulness. (Psalm 117:2 NIV).

     —Love. (Psalm 136 NIV).

     —Mercy. (Psalm 136 KJV).

     —Steadfast love. (Psalm 136 ESV; Exodus 34:6-7).

     —Lovingkindness. (Psalm 136 NASB).

     —Kindness. (Micah 6:8).

Since no one English word captures the richness of the Hebrew word hesed, I use the Hebrew word hesed in three of my morning meditations:

—the hesed of the LORD endures forever;

—the hesed of the LORD redeems forever; and

—the hesed of the LORD blesses forever.

A similar point is made near the start of my books about the Bible and again near the end of my books about the Bible.

In my book The Promised Land (first published in 2004):

when Abraham set off for the Promised Land, he already knew that no enduring civilization can be based on arrogance and selfishness.

The fate of the Tower of Babel taught Abraham the impossibility of building any “tower” by arrogantly challenging the authority of God and by selfishly ignoring the needs of other people.

God’s command to go to the Promised Land—the “tower” where all other people will be blessed—taught Abraham that the family of God is the only “tower” worth building.

The family of God is the only “tower” worth establishing as the work of our hands because the family of God is the only “tower” that truly “reaches to the heavens.”

Furthermore, Abraham’s call to be a “great nation” (Genesis 12:2) by “blessing all peoples on earth” (12:3) shows how God’s way of making “a great nation”—a good civilization—is totally different from the flawed approaches of Nimrod and Babel.

Nimrod “grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth” (Genesis 10:8). But God did not suggest that military prowess should play any role in helping Abraham become a “great nation”.

In Babel, people worked to make a name for themselves. But Abraham’s faith relied on God’s promise: “I will make your name great” (Genesis 12:2).

Nimrod and Babel did not understand what makes people, nations and civilizations “great”.

Greatness does not come from winning wars.

And greatness does not come from building the tallest “tower.”

Greatness comes from being a blessing to other people.

Greatness comes from having the faith to go to that “Promised Land” where “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).

(The Promised Land, at pages 23-24)(emphasis added)

And so, the theme of my first book about the Bible (The Promised Land, first published in 2004) was:

The LORD said:

“[G]o to the land I will show you . . .

      and all peoples on earth

     will be blessed through you.”

     (Genesis 12:1-3)

And the same theme about what makes people great continues through the theme of my final book about the Bible (Lighting the World, first published in 2004):

You are the light of the world.

[L]et your light shine before [people],

     that they may see your good deeds

     and praise your Father in heaven.

“Not by might nor by power,

     but by my Spirit,” says the LORD Almighty.

     (Matthew 5:14,16; Zechariah 4:6).

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Do you believe that greatness comes from winning wars? How? Why?

Do you believe that greatness comes from building the “tallest tower”? How? Why?

Do you believe that greatness comes from blessing other people? How? Why?

Why does greatness not come by might nor by power?

Why does greatness come by the Spirit of the LORD Almighty?

READ MORE

The Hebrew word hesed expresses the abundant love and faithfulness of the LORD our God.  To learn more about hesed, please read my blogs “Hesed Endures Forever”, “Hesed Redeems Forever”, “Hesed Blesses Forever”, “Hesed Saves and Nurtures Baby Moses”, “Hesed Saves Israel—Passover”, “Hesed Nurtures Israel—From the Red Sea to Mount Sinai”, “Hesed Nurtures Israel—Mount Sinai”, “Hesed Establishes the Work of Moses’s Hands—Mount Nebo”, “Hesed Blesses Forever—David”, “Walking Humbly With Hesed—Micah”, “Hoping in Hesed—Jeremiah”, “Hesed Returns Israel to Jerusalem”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed—The Vision of Isaiah”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed: Sowing the Ideals of the Law and the Prophets”, “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Fulfilling the Law of Moses and the Prophets”, and “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Saving Sheep, Saving Coins, and Saving Sons”.