Spa

When I was a teenager, I tried to use various kinds of methods that I could find to cure my stammering speech, or at least to improve my speaking ability. But I failed. There was no any improvement. I also prayed to God, asking Him to take away my stammering speech, but there was no any difference. I really gave up.

But God did not give up on me. He gave me sufficient grace to persevere with people’s laughing. When 1 was 16 years old, 1 started to take initiative to talk with people. It was really difficult, because for me to speak a sentence was like running a 100-meter race. I would sweat a lot and cannot breathe, and I also had to stand the laugh of other people. Thank God. He empowered me that no matter how difficult it was, I could persevere. God gave me sufficient grace, to restore my self-confidence and self-image. No matter how people laugh at me, I had courage to continue to talk. I could endure people’s laughing. Eventually their laughing could not hurt me anymore. My self-confidence was built up. My self-image was built on gracious God and not on men God also gives His grace to me through other people. He sent some people to help me to improve my speech. For example, when I was here in year 2004 for my practical training, Rev. Lau Hui Ming was really a good coach to guide me to improve my speech.

At the end of year 2004, I was posted back to my home church, Logos Methodist Church. There I had opportunities to preach in two Sunday services. A few weeks after my first preaching, I was informed that some peoples said that they were amazed because I could preach so fluently, not even a word was stammer. They knew me since I was a teenager. They knew that I had serious stammering speech. But now I was able to preach fluently at the pulpit. And to their surprise, they also noticed that in my daily conversations, sometimes I still stammer slightly. They really were amazed. They concluded that it was God’s power enabling me to preach fluently at the pulpit. By God’s grace, His power was made perfect in my weakness!

Today, sometimes I still had slight stammer in my speech. But this reminds me to rely on God totally every time in my preaching. I know no matter how good or how fluent my preaching is, it is totally because of God’s grace that He makes His power perfect in my weakness.

Today, God will also make His power perfect in your weakness. You may have gastric pain. You may have eyesight impairment. You may have stammering speech. You may have other weaknesses. No matter what your weakness is, trust in God. Let God make His power perfect in your weakness. Are you ready to do so?

We have seen the first two letters for SPA formula. S stands for sufficient grace in God. P stands for perfect power in Christ. How about the last letter A?

A stands for Abiding in Christ. Let’s see verse 9c. "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” God can make his power perfect in us. But we have our part to do. What is your part? In verse 9, Paul tells us that our part is to boast about our weaknesses. What is your weakness? Boast about it. Not only boast about it, but boast about it gladly. Paul’s opponents boasted about their achievements, but Paul boasted about his weaknesses and sufferings, so that people will see Christ’s perfect power in him.