“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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

One mistake you would make is thinking that you can endure persecution by yourself; it doesn’t work that way, and that is the honest reality. Remember it is not by strength or by might that we prevail. You see, the flesh in itself is weak and feeble. No matter how much or how hard you try, you would never be able to successfully survive persecutions by your strength, which is why you need God and His help to pull you through. Many times, Apostle Paul asked that the church pray for him. Why do you think he did that? Because he recognised that his strength had failed him. He needed to draw from the gathering of the brethren to regain his strength.

For instance, the time when Paul was stoned and left for dead, we see the power of prayer as the men gathered and prayed him back to life.

“Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day, he and Barnabas left for Derbe.” Acts 14:19-20.

Just a testament that by our strength we would fail; that is why God provided for us his grace and his power in our seasons of weakness. That His power may rest upon us, giving us the capacity to do beyond our imaginations. To endure persecution gladly and be strong in our weakness.

Prayer: Lord, please help me to lay hold of your grace and power made available for me. That I endure persecution with your help.