2020. The number itself has a cool ring to it. I thought about Vision. Clear Vision.

What thoughts went through your mind as 11:59PM turned to 12:00AM?

Anticipation. Excitement. Hope for a new beginning? For me, it was all of the above.

But I had no idea God would use words like quarantine, shelter in place, social distancing and even protest to help clear my vision. These words weren’t even on my radar.

Isn’t that typical of God? He uses unexpected events, inconveniences and even struggles to help us see ourselves (and what’s truly on the inside of us) more clearly.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul speaks about a “thorn in his flesh.” That thorn was a real inconvenience for Paul. But it kept him grounded, humble and Paul even admitted…that thorn kept him from “becoming conceited.”  Three times Paul begged God to take it away…but God didn’t.  God used that “thorn” to teach Paul and the New Testament church a lesson about the power of grace.

In the book of 2 Corinthians, years after Jesus death & resurrection, Jesus returns to the scene. He tells Paul. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Paul didn’t argue with Jesus, like I know I would have done. I can hear myself now, ‘Jesus, If you would just do this one thing for me, think how much more I can do for you.’

Nope. Paul submitted to Christ’s words and even began “to delight“ and boast about his hardships.

“For Christ sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in difficulties. For when I am weak, THEN I am strong.”

I know it’s hard to ‘delight’ in this season of life we find ourselves in. It’s not what any of us imagined for 2020.  But God’s Word is still His Word. If He can use “insults, hardships and difficulties” to help Paul see things more clearly, He can do the same for us today.

2020. Let it be said… It’s the year God’s vision for our lives became our vision for our lives.

Thorns and all.

-Binu