2 Corinthians 12:9
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
I ran out of gas while driving down the road the other day. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Kristie hadn’t just suggested we should stop and fill up. I told her we could make it. Sometimes you’re just wrong… and there’s no way to get around the ugly truth of the matter.
I just sat there for the first thirty seconds or so. I was both frustrated and embarrassed, but most of all, my pride was hurt. The walk to the gas station took 25 minutes. Kristie was having a blast. “It gave us extra time together.” I was in a bad mood. My pride had ignored her suggestion to stop and get gas; my pride wouldn’t let me call our friends for help; and my pride definitely wasn’t going to let me show any signs of enjoying the situation.
It was at about that time that the Lord reminded me of the quiet time I had finished only a couple of hours beforehand. I had been reading 2 Corinthians and asked the Lord to reveal my weaknesses to me today. I told Him that if He would reveal them to me, I would do my best to repent and force a change in habit. One couldn’t overlook the obvious opportunity He had given me.
To make a long story short, 45 minutes later Kristie and I were back on the road with a brand new, shiny red, two-gallon gas can. The Lord taught me two things that day. Number one, be careful what you pray for, and number two, be careful what you hold on to. There’s no doubt that I’ll still struggle with a prideful spirit, but God helped me hand it over to Him for several hours that afternoon. It was one of the best days I had with Him or Kristie in a long time.