Sunday Yr B Sunday between July 3 – 9
Daily Readings: Ezekiel 2:1-5, 2 Corinthians 12:2-10, Mark 6:1-13, Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2-10 (New International Version)
2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. 5I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. 7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But 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. 10That 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.
Nicole hid her head in her school book. The conversations on the bus buzzed around her but didn’t involve her. She listened half-heartedly to the words.
“Look, Erik, give us your lunch money or else.” Several grunts in agreement accompanied the threat.
“How am I supposed to eat?” Erik whined.
“Not my problem. You won’t be able to eat if your mouth is swollen.” Laughter drowned out Erik’s response.
Nicole peeked at Erik over her book. His hair was mussed as if someone had grabbed it and his glasses had slid to the tip of his nose. A rustle of paper and coins passed between Erik and the local bully. The group sat back on their seats in the rear of the bus.
The ride was nosy, but uneventful and classes burned through the day. The bell rang and kids lined up for their bus rides home. Nicole dreaded the bully and his cronies. She saw them swaggering across the grass. Erik was ahead of her in line. She knew Erik from church. She wished she had had enough courage to stand up for him, but she had kept to herself. Meeting Erik’s eyes, she felt his embarrassment and so looked down at her books.
The bullies arrived making noise and pushing those already in line.
“Hey, watch it!” voices called behind Nicole.
“Make me.” the bully responded. He and his crowd bumped their way to the front where Erik stood and cut in front of him. He didn’t argue, but moved back to let them through.
The bus doors opened and the children boarded. Erik took the front seat next to the door and Nicole slid into the seat behind the driver. Kids filled the remaining seats and the din of conversations increased with each arrival. The bus driver entered, sat and closed the door, revving the engine to take off.
Nicole said a silent prayer that the bullies wouldn’t get the best of them. They were in the back making a ruckus and the bus driver called the ring leader forward telling him to sit behind the barrier between the driver and the rest of the bus. The bully squashed Nicole as he sat down next to her. Only moments had passed and Nicole felt her hair being pulled.
“Please stop.” She said quietly.
“I’ll do as I please. You are nobody.”
“It’s not pleasing to God.”
“So what?” He yanked harder.
Nicole stood up and looked straight at him. “I may not win in a fight against you because you are stronger than I am. But God is stronger than you. You can’t win if you fight against God and since I am a child of God, you may want to rethink doing something that might require God to repay you.”
“Huh?” His eyes glazed.
“Don’t even think of picking on me, or any of the others because God is on our side.” She heard the cheers from the other students as a distant sound behind her. Erik was standing beside her in solidarity. The bus driver called for everyone to sit down. Nicole sat down and the bully said nothing but sulked in the seat next to her. When Nicole arrived home, she ran into the kitchen where her mom was making a snack.
“Mom, Mom. I did exactly what you said. I told the bully that he might win but God was with me…and …and it worked!”
“I’m glad you resolved that relying on God as your strength. Sometimes we try to fight our own battles and we lose because we’re weak. God is always strong enough.” Nicole was swallowed in a hug from her mom. “The scriptures say that God’s power is made perfect when we are weak; because it shows God’s strength and all the credit goes to God. I’m proud of you.”
Daily Prayer: Sovereign God, you are more powerful than we can imagine. Forgive us for not trusting you when we have struggles and battles to fight. Help us to remember that your power is made perfect in weakness. Take care of us through all our difficulties. Thank you for loving us. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
Memorize: . 2 Corinthians 2:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
