You learn a lot more from the lows because it makes you pay attention to what you’re doing. John Elway.
Who doesn’t like football? Don’t answer that question because I’m sure there are those who don’t like it. But, I love football. It dominates the conversations of many of my friends during the season in the same way movies do. “Hey, did you see such and such a movie?” “Hey, what did you think about the Arizona Cardinals last weekend?” You get the idea. John Elway, NFL Hall of Famer, said you learn a lot from lows in life. Those times get your attention quicker than just about any other time. Football, like other sports, is full of lows, of losses, of injuries. How could Elway make a statement like, “you learn more from the lows”? Because it’s true.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul shares his learned perspective on the lows. “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Something amazing is discovered in the lows…God’s grace! Here’s why this is so helpful to you and to me. The Apostle Paul, this guy of amazing faith, there was a period of time where God was silent. It’s like, why is this happening to me? Why are you allowing this to happen to me? There was this period of time in his life where he was in the dark.
And that should come as an encouragement to some of you. You’ve begun to wonder if God knows you’re alive. You’ve begun to wonder if God even knows you exist. And God’s silence has been mistaken as God’s absence. And Paul who was like the super Christian… Paul had more to do with the spread of Christianity than anyone else…I mean this guy is like a rock star. And God just let him stay in the dark for a while.
But God’s answer was amazing. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In other words, you’ll be better off (even when it doesn’t feel that way) when you go through the lows. God’s grace is there not only to see you through but to strengthen you. Among other things, God’s grace is the unique thumbprint of Christianity. His amazing grace has a sustaining power that every person longs for, especially during the “silent” times in our lives.