#22 - God's Strength in My Weakness

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Have you ever had one of those days where a tiny

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problem feels huge and then other days you breeze

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through something way harder? Yeah me too. I'm

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Dr. Cory Potter and this is Mind and Faith Matters.

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Today we're diving into what it means to have

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strength as believers especially when we feel

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weak. If you're feeling drained lately or like

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you don't have enough to give, this episode is

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for you. You see, our limits, emotionally and

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mentally, they shift depending on what we've

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been carrying with us. That's part of being human.

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And it's exactly where God's grace shows up and

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meets us. Have you ever prayed about something

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again and again and it just won't go away or

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happen? Like an uninvited guest that keeps hanging

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around? You're not alone there. In the Bible,

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Paul faced that too. He described it as a thorn

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in his flesh, a constant source of pain and limitation.

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And when he asked God to take it away, God's

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reply was, my grace is sufficient for you, for

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my power is made perfect in weakness. Did you

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notice God didn't remove Paul's challenge? He

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promised his constant presence to face it. Here's

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the lesson. When we feel stretched beyond our

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ability, God's strength is active right where

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we are weak. Our ability to handle stress, it's

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not fixed. We battle grief, fatigue, and anxiety.

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These things lower that threshold and make small

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pressures feel heavy. Paul's thorn shows us that

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struggle does not define you as a failure. In

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fact, it is an invitation to rely fully on God's

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grace. There are times where I believe God uses

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our situations to show us that we're not strong

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or we don't have the strength and we need His

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grace and He shows us these things so we can

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rely on Him more. Many believers face what mental

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health experts call catastrophizing. That habit

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of imagining the worst outcome. And there are

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many common roots for this. They include things

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like the pressure to get everything right. Perfectionism,

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it makes even minor missteps feel like total

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failure. Using promises in the wrong way. Let

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me give you an example. In the Bible, in 1 Corinthians

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chapter 10 verse 13, people use that as if life

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will never overwhelm us. And then when life doesn't

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match with that expectation, the mind reaches

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for worst -case pictures. A lot of people quote

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1 Corinthians 10 13 to say, God won't give you

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more than you can handle. But that's not exactly

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what it means or what it says. The verse actually

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says no temptation has overtaken you except what

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is common to man. And God is faithful. He will

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not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

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But when you are tempted, he will also provide

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a way out so that you can stand up under it.

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This verse is talking about temptation, not general

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suffering. God promises we won't face temptation

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beyond our ability to resist and he will always

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provide a way out Doesn't mean we're gonna take

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that way out, but he'll provide it But when we

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expect life to never feel overwhelming and then

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it does our mind spirals into this worst -case

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thinking That's where a catastrophizing creeps

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in and to continue on with other causes Some

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people they fear failing of others or failing

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God which can make their normal limits as human

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feel like a moral failure. I've also seen where

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some people just have a lack of skills or tools

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and even trusted people they can talk to and

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check in with and that leaves their mind prone

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to think this worst -case scenario thinking or

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over worry. Sometimes the brain goes into that

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mode and one little problem turns into a huge

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storm in your head. And suddenly everything feels

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like too much. That's normal. People do that.

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But it's not the whole story. Even when life

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feels overwhelming, God is still with you. He

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doesn't expect you to be strong all the time.

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His grace shows up right where you're feeling

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weak, confused, or not enough. You don't have

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to fix everything or figure it all out before

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he helps. Sometimes just naming what's heavy

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can bring it to a little lighter place or bring

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a little light in on it. Either way you say it.

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If you just say to God or others, this is where

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I'm at. This is my limit today. It's okay to

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also say I'm at my limit. This is where honesty

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helps us to start healing. It opens the door

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to grace. And when you just take a moment to

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breathe and pray, God will hear you. Just saying

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something simple like, your grace is enough,

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your power is perfect in my weakness. But I also

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want you to remember, you are not alone. You

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can talk to someone that you trust. And as I

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said, just saying the words out loud can help

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that fear shrink a little bit. So if today feels

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too much, I want you to hit the pause button.

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Ask yourself, is this truly catastrophic or does

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it feel that way because I'm tired or stretched

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or overwhelmed? And remember, God doesn't ask

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you to be invincible. He's inviting you to rest

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in Him. I've even done other episodes on finding

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rest and being still before God that could help

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you in this case. God's not going anywhere. He's

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strong when you're not and I want you to hear

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him again. My grace is sufficient for you. My

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power is made perfect in weakness. So on your

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low energy days, your anxious moments, the times

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when you feel like You've got nothing left. Those

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are the places where God's power shines brightest.

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Let the truth steady your heart today. Let us

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pray. Lord Jesus, we come to you now. We thank

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you so much that you give us grace and we thank

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you that your power in our weakness unmatched

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and Lord you're not limited you're limitless

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and we thank you that we can come to you with

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our overwhelmed feelings our stress when we catastrophize

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all these situations Lord and we can rest in

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you and you give us space to be built up by your

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power Lord we thank you for your Holy Spirit

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that guides us to these truths would help us

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to not under correct ourselves or over pressurize

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ourselves. Lord, help us to just get true with

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you and bring our lives before you honestly and

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admit our weaknesses when we have them. And Lord,

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maybe you could show us today areas where we

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are trying to power through and we're just weak

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and we need you. Lord, help us to not try to

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perform to earn your grace. but instead allow

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us to just dwell with you and rest in you so

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that we receive your power and your provisions

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and your guidance in our lives. Lord, we thank

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you for this short devotional time together.

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I ask that you would bless all these listeners

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with your power, your strength, and your grace

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today. In Jesus' name I do pray. Amen. So if

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you've been listening to the show and got something

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out of this episode, I'd be so thankful if you

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shared it with someone else. You can always find

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me on mindandfaithmatters .com on the web. I

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put up my companion resource guides there. I

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have a hat that I'm gonna bend down and grab

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real quick. I wasn't expecting to do this, but

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it's sitting right here in my podcast studio.

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I... just dropped a new design of hat not so

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long ago in the Mind and Faith Matters store.

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So you can go to mindandfaithmatters .com forward

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slash store and check those out. Last month we

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did a drive to earn some money to give to headsupguys

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.org to battle depression in men and men's mental

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health to make it better. And so I'm going to

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be taking the proceeds from July. I've tallied

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those up. It's a humble little amount, but we

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can supplement it a little bit and send it their

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way and just support that ministry. In the meantime,

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I want you to know that from here on out, you're

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just supporting my podcast if you buy something

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from the store. And so that doesn't bother me

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either. It costs money. I enjoy what I'm doing,

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but it costs money to keep. the production value

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as high as I can and keep it going with all the

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technology that it uses. So I'm not begging,

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but I am saying if you want to go to mindandfaithmatters

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.com forward slash store and check it out, I'd

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greatly appreciate it. For this week I want you

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to reflect on this. Maybe your greatest weakness

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is actually a strength when we use God's strength.

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And your greatest strength if we continue to

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think we don't need God in it, could be one of

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your greatest weaknesses. Not trying to be fancy,

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just trying to make you think. So until next

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time, remember that your mind does matter, our

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weakness matters, and our faith matters. God

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bless. Have a good week.