Consider with me the words of Paul; “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Being pressed on every side by the world to snuff out the joy Paul had in Christ, he responded by saying: “in my weakness, His (God’s) strength is made perfect”. We have not beholden the perfection of God’s strength until something brings us low; something as low self-esteem. When we behold the depressing thoughts that often times visit our minds, telling us our insufficiency or our incapabilities, or our incompetencies, or our failings that then brings us down to low self-esteem, we can detect that it is the attempt of the enemy to turn our eyes away from the joyful life that we have in Christ unto the fear and despair that gives otherwise. This has always been the work of the Devil who came to Eve in the garden to decieve her by telling her that she does not reach the cut mark, that she is not good enough, that she is below standard, while yet in reality, she was the beloved creation of God, created in His very image, formed with love and joined in fellowship with God. So we see that holding ourselves in low self-esteem is eye-blinding to the enjoyment of the glorious fellowship a man must have with God, and instead, render us feasts to the devil’s lies. We must at all time inflict injury on our low self-esteem by responding like Paul and say “yet while I am weak the strength of God prevails in me.” For even in the dark, the light shines and darkness cannot overcome it. When we see ourselves as unworthy, it is in that very moment that God’s love abounds greatly in us. If sin condemns, let repentance send you on your way to the throne of grace– there lies our strength in the time of our need for grace and mercy and the love of God. Beyond knowing this, we must pray for strength to live in constant remembrance and consciousness of God’s love. So like the psalmist, we can pray; Psalms 80:3 “Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!” For we know that God says to us: Psalms 50:15 “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”