The Bible is full of paradoxes.

“To be first you must become last.”

“Love your enemies. Pray for those who use you.”

“To become great you must  be the servant of all.”

“To become strong you must become weak.”

One of the hardest things for people to understand is that latter one. How in the world can a person become strong by becoming weak? Such a strange paradox. Hudson Taylor put it another way:

All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.

That flies in the face of our modern-day thinking. It flew in the face of thinking in Jesus’ day. I’m sure the Romans who heard that must have thought He was off His rocker. Life and success was defined by strength. So to hear becoming weak makes a person strong “does not compute!”

Slaying giants is big stuff. “March Madness” usually includes a Cinderella team. They are often called “Giant Slayers” because they bring the bigger teams to their knees.

God often puts us in the position of being giant slayers. That entails a willingness to be used by Him. Bobby put it well: “The weaker we become, the greater God’s power is released in our lives.” (p.142) We don’t have to lose. We don’t have to be seen as losers. The weak become strong!

That is a paradox worth knowing!