Walking in the word of life

Embrace your weakness, Allow God's Strength in

Wednesday, May 23

2 Corinthians 12:10 Amplified Bible (AMP)

10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God's strength].

I think this is quite a bold statement, considering that Paul was one of the greatest apostles that ever lived. He didn't want to give a false impression to the people that he ministered to, he honestly told them that even he had weaknesses. The Bible doesn't tell us exactly what was happening to Paul. What we do know is that He had a thorn in his flesh which represents some kind of agonizing experience.

It seems quite weird to embrace weakness, especially since it's not exactly a very attractive quality. As believers, we should want the more attractive virtues, which is not a bad thing to desire. While that is good, we also have to embrace what we are not strong in. If God is going to take first place in our lives, we should let Him show Himself strong in what we struggle with and in our weaknesses.

Paul says, when we are weak, then we are strong. That strength doesn't come from us, but it is the strength that comes from Almighty God. We are not perfect people and we have to embrace that. That is not to say we shouldn't strive to be better in the areas where we are weak. That's just the part where we let God take care of what we have no control over. We let Him be the all-sovereign God that He is.

You have to understand that God called you out of darkness into His marvelous light not because you were perfect. He chose you and called you a Holy nation because of His son Jesus. He knew you even before He sought after having a relationship with you. He didn't call you because you were flawless but because He wanted to have a relationship. If God can love us when we have the most unattractive traits, we have to learn to love ourselves as we are and allow Him to work on us. No man but God can change us. It doesn't matter how much we talk about change and becoming better, on our own, we are weak.

Embracing weakness allows God's strength to work in us. If we were perfect, we wouldn't need to pray anyway. Why would we spend time studying the word of God if we knew quite well that we had already gotten there? God knows we are not flawless yet He still desires us. He is  that good. Embrace your flaws and let God in.

Pretending not to have a problem doesn't take the problem away. If anything, it makes life much harder because we have such a perception of perfection that is non-existent. We should let God heal us. We should let Him help us. We should leave everything in His hands.

Prayer

God I know I am weak, I could never be strong without you. Teach me to learn how to embrace my flaws and help me allow you to work on me. I admit it's not the easiest thing to do, but I will not face it alone, I want you in every situation, even those that I know I am strong in. I want more of you and less of me. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, I pray,  amen.