2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NLT)
9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”9 So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Our darkest valley can be found in how unpredictable life can be. Whether you’re feeling physically weak in your body, emotionally or even spiritually exhausted; we have the power to change the circumstances of our lives through Jesus Christ. He tells us in Matthew 19:26 that all things are possible with God if we believe. We are God’s children! This means we have the authority through Jesus Christ to handle any circumstance that comes our way. Being prepared and strengthened in God’s Word is key. It’s the difference between becoming lost in a world of change or being spiritually equipped to handle it.
But we can’t get it twisted, in and of ourselves, we can’t make it work. Some of us think we have it all together without totally leaning on Christ, and this is where we make our biggest mistake. Our pride gets in the way, because none of us want to feel inadequate or incapable of handling things ourselves. The truth is…when we feel inadequate, that’s when our weakness is revealed. Some of us were taught, sometimes from negative role models, that weakness should be equated with ‘not good enough.’ This is a totally backwards way of looking at things, and because of it, we hide behind our vulnerabilities instead of allowing Christ to strengthen them.
The truth is that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) We are born with sin in our makeup and this is a weakened state. It is a myth to think that we are strong enough to handle things on our own. We are not. The Apostle Paul understood this. He did as God commanded, which is to lean totally and completely on Him for all things. In our weakness, God’s strength works best.
Isaiah 40:29(NLT) says, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” As Children of God, we don’t have to be afraid of what’s to come, nor do we have to fear the unknown, our only requirement is to trust God. He will never leave us or forsake us! In good times and in bad times, He will continually infuse us with His strength as we trust Him. When we need comfort—when we need protection, He’s with us!
A friend of mine got a phone call from her daughter who is a sophomore away at college, six-hours away from home. She thought it was another weekly check-in call, but this time she noticed her daughter’s voice was a bit different than before. Her normal bubbly, high-pitched voice saying, “Hi mom, I just called to hear your voice and say hello”, turned into “Hi mom, I hope you don’t hate me after you hear what I have to tell you.” Her daughter was six-months pregnant. She was going to have to come home and finish college later.
All her mom could think about was, “What did I do wrong? Did I give her too much freedom? Should I have made her go to college closer to home? Both mom and daughter felt downtrodden, bewildered and lost at the thought of the unexpected happening. Neither of them knew what to do next, and unfortunately the thought of leaning on the Lord was not the first thing on their minds.
A lot of us are this way. We don’t handle the unexpected well. We clam up and forget about the promises in God’s Word, but these are the times we should feel an even greater desire to cling to the Lord with all that is within us. If we can’t do anything else in our situations, we can certainly rely on the grace of God to carry us through. He delights in our trust in Him and tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 to do so with all our hearts. He tells us not to lean on our own understanding, but to seek His Will in all we do, and He will direct our paths.
You and I can’t see all the details. We don’t know what is going to happen in the future, but the irony of weakness is that it’s an opportunity for joy! It’s an opportunity to be strong in the Lord! Our Heavenly Father knows and will handle everything. Pride and arrogance caused the devil to be cast out of heaven. We can’t allow pride to cause us to disobey or distrust the power of God. Overestimating our own ability without Him is a dangerously costly mistake.
Even without our acknowledging or being fully aware of it, pride can be the cause of us not turning to God when we need Him most. There will be times that we feel downtrodden and weak-minded, we just want to give up and throw in the towel. Don’t give-in, press into the Father. Go further into the realm of His goodness, because that’s what He’s calling you to do. Begin to thank Him for bringing you through your difficulty. Thank Him for seeing you through heartbreak, financial hardship, or whatever the issue may be. Romans 8:37 affirms that you have the power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on your side, and through him you can do all things!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Irony of Weakness”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.