The rehab hospital

THE REHAB HOSPITAL

For my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

 

IT WAS QUITE A STUDY in contrasts as I stepped into the fitness center where my wife and I work out. I had just come from visiting at a rehab hospital. There are some similarities between the two facilities, such as a spacious room filled with exercise equipment.

But it is the differences that grab your attention. At one, all the bodies appear to be strong and healthy. Conversation is light and casual, punctuated by the periodic grunts and groans of those seeking to reach the next level of fitness. At the other, many of the bodies are flabby or emaciated. Conversation is serious, subdued, and filled with words of encouragement as patients struggle to complete the most basic routines prescribed by their therapists.

I would rather be at the fitness center than the rehab hospital, wouldn't you? I want to be among the strong and healthy—the “beautiful people” from the perspective of our culture.

Paul reminded us that, ironically, the fitness center is not really the place of strength. No, it's at the rehab hospital that you are more likely to find true strength, because God's power is perfected in our weakness. At the very least, you discover God is sufficient for every need.

 

—Fred A. Johns

 

Strength, not weakness, blinds us to God's sufficiency.