Weakness

Written by cycleguy on January 26th, 2017

Weak is the new strong. That is just one of the opposite-opposite statements we find in the Bible which seemingly contradict each other. Here are a few more:

  • Love your enemies
  • The way to be exalted is to be humble
  • To truly live you have to die
  • Jesus gave His life, not for good people but for sinful, ungodly people who don’t deserve it.

To be strong, you have to be weak. That sure sounds strange in our society doesn’t it? We of the power grabs and climbing the ladder (while using our coworkers as stepping stones). So hearing the word weakness almost throws us into a convulsion, or at best a spasm.

Paul said it well in 2 Cor. 12:9-10: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

We all have weaknesses and limitations. That’s normal. As humans we are finite, imperfect, sinful people. Those are limitations. But weaknesses are different. We all have them; just different ones.  The lesson for us though is that in spite of our weaknesses, God’s grace stands there ready at a moment’s notice. The equally interesting thing is that God not only wants to display His grace in Paul’s life, He also wants to display His power in Paul’s weakness.

Truth: the weaker we become, the greater God’s power is released in us. That is the idea I want to capture this coming Sunday. Will you please pray for us this Sunday?

The leadership is also making an announcement this week concerning the future of OVCF. If you, my readers, are interested in knowing what I said, you can tune into the podcast.

 

5 Comments so far ↓

  1. You’ve used the same scriptural reference here, Bill, as I did in the blog posted today. Wow! Does God move in marvelous ways, or what?
    I will keep you in prayer for this Sunday!

  2. Steph says:

    We always pray for church…. But, even more so for this weekend. 🙂

  3. floyd says:

    It doesn’t seem to make sense from a purely worldly view. It is the opposite of the theory of natural selection. Which has never worked in human history. Even the humanists applaud the people throughout history that have sacrificed and fought for the weak.

    So the strongest people are the ones who had the biggest hearts and were willing to sacrifice in humility. And that’s the key word to me, “humility”.

    That trait leaves room for the supernatural and sovereign hand of God to shape lives and history.

    Praying for you, Bill.

  4. Amen. Blessings to you this Sunday. This is something I have to be reminded of often because we are certainly taught to minimize or even despise our weaknesses. I want to get stronger and move past whatever it is I don’t like. Instead of me getting stronger though, God offers that the weakness can just stay there and I can rely completely on His strength. Sounds counter-intuitive but it’s such a freeing way to live. Thanks Bill. As I said, this is a reminder I need often.

  5. Ceil says:

    Hi Bill! Of course I’ll pray for your message given today. I hope it inspires and sinks deeply into the soul.
    Weakness and boasting does sound like an oxymoron, but that’s the way Jesus lived. He didn’t deny anyone the right to be themselves, but instead, tried to show them through his teaching and life that meekness and obedience to the Father is the way to God’s heart.
    May the Spirit give you blessings and power in speech,
    Ceil