For when I am weak, then I am strong. [2 Corinthians 12:10b (NIV)]

The Bible is full of contradictory and almost absurd concepts: when we’re weak, we’re strong; to die is to live; and the more we give, the more we’ll have. We’re told the poor are rich, the persecuted will be blessed, the meek will inherit the earth, and the hungry and thirsty will be satisfied. We can only enter through the narrow gate; position, power and wealth mean nothing in God’s Kingdom; don’t worry about tomorrow and be happy when beset by trouble. When someone slaps us, we’re to offer the other cheek; when someone takes our shirt, we should give him our coat; we’re supposed love the unlovable and pray for those who persecute us. Jesus’s ways certainly seem to contradict the ways of the world.

Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit. Help us to understand, accept and live by these concepts that seem to so impractical and paradoxical.

Valley of Vision Prayer

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
Where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
Hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,
That to be low is to be high,
That the broken heart is the healed heart,
That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
That the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
That to have nothing is to possess all,
That to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
That to give is to receive,
That the valley is the place of vision.
[From “The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions” (Arthur Bennett, editor)]