“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
I am broken. I fail. I am imperfect. I am weak. These words used to sting me–”I am weak.” Weakness implies you are incomplete, you aren’t strong enough, or you can’t do something. I never wanted anyone to think that of me. But I am human; it is in my very nature. I am inherently weak.
In the fall of 2021, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness, and it was one of the toughest seasons I have walked through. It was a time full of pain, imperfection, and weakness. This “problem” walked into my life and seemed to consume me. It took over my time, body, and thoughts. Everything I did seemed to cause pain. I spent countless nights asking the Lord why I was going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life. Why was something “wrong” with me?
I may be weak, but the Lord is strong. Psalms 73:26 (NIV) reminds us, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” My weakness allows me to experience the Lord’s strength in a way I would not be able to otherwise. If I could do everything myself, I would not need to rely on Him, and that is the beauty of weakness. If I did not have weaknesses, I would not be able to experience God’s strength in the same way.
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)
Say it with me, “I am weak.” Okay, now that we have admitted we are weak and we cannot do anything out of our own strength, why is it important that we delight in our weakness and how do we exactly do that?
By delighting in weakness, we become content with every circumstance because it reveals more of who God is. When we delight in our weakness, we can more clearly see who God is and how he can use us in every position of our lives, at our best and at our worst. At this point, you may be expecting a step-by-step, a how-to. But that isn’t quite how delighting in your weakness goes, and in all honesty I’m still figuring it out too. Delighting in your weakness is a mindset change and it takes time. It comes from praying for full dependence on the Lord, trusting His discernment, and seeking His wisdom. In Romans 8:26 it says, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” You may not always have the words to say or know how to get through a situation, and that is okay, no one does no matter how strong they appear. In those moments find comfort in the Comforter, peace in the Peacemaker, and grace in the Grace Giver.
My inherent weakness turned out to be my greatest strength. While my health is a part of my life, it is by no means my whole life. I choose to focus on the relationships in my life. I had just started living with new roommates, leading a small group with Clemson FCA, and settling into new friendships. I was not going to let this “problem” cause me to miss the opportunities I had right in front of me. In that moment, I choose to pour out rather than throw myself a pity party. Eventually, I started a medication that reduced my pain and it wasn’t until a few months later that something I had been ashamed and angry at turned into something I thanked God for. If I had not faced that valley, if all of my weakness had not been exposed, I would not be who I am now. Our weakness is something to rejoice in because we get to see God’s character in new ways as we depend on Him more.
The good news is our weakness is not the end of the story. I may be weak, but He is strong.
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