Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Strong weakness
2 Corinthians 12:9,10
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In one of my counselling sessions recently I was working with a young lady who wanted some guidance to help her find her place in ministry. As is usual, such sessions end up in areas not previously anticipated. This happens because often the other areas of our life have an impact on how we exercise our gifts, our calling, and any ministry we have.
Here is how that got started, we were praying during one session and she had seemed distracted so in our recent session, I asked about that. She told me that sometimes people fall down during the prayer time and she didn’t want to fall so her focus was on staying upright. That got us into a discussion about her approach to life.
Her goal in life, in every situation and circumstance, was to never appear to be weak or vulnerable. She must always be tough, never display any emotion, and she must have her own way. When she can’t get her own way, she will fight. She has been fighting all her life and as far as she is concerned she will have to keep fighting.
(For those of you who visit for counselling or just to talk, don’t worry, she is aware that I was going to use her story in the devotional today, and no one knows her identity, many people pass through.)
Many of us and many other people we meet every day are focused on being strong. The list is long but here are a few: many women are focused on being strong so that what they saw happen to their mothers wouldn’t happen to them, other women are focused on being strong because after what their husband did to them they won’t make the mistake and let any other man do that, many men are focused on being strong because their father abandoned them and did nothing for them, and some men I met last week who are focused on being strong because they got unfair treatment in the divorce settlement and will ensure that never happens again.
Like we said, those are just a few, so many of us have memories of childhood, or relationships, or abuse, or other victimisation and marginalisation that force us to be strong to ensure that it never happens again to us or our children or those we love.
We live in a world where strength is admired and celebrated, while weakness and vulnerability are disparaged. The weak are taken more and more advantage of and are the regular victims of the strong. In fact, some people are only able to be strong when the weak are around because they can take advantage of them.
Like the weak husband who has not conquered his own fears and so to feel strong, he beats his even weaker wife who because of her own fears is too weak to leave. And like the weak parent who because of their own fears beat the children and set in motion another cycle of fear and weakness.
I am not a psychologist, but it seems to me that the strength that many project is actually weakness. When we have failed to conquer our fears, when vulnerability would expose the hurt that has never healed, when openness would expose the unforgiveness in our hearts that’s eating us out, when facing memories brings misery, the only thing we can do is to create a veneer of strength.
What I have also discovered is that God’s healing is available for us but many of us walk around wounded before God because we come to Him still with the veneer of strength.
The apostle Paul, admittedly in a different context, outlined a fundamental truth from what the Spirit of the Lord said to him, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
This seems like a bizarre idea. God seems to want me to be weak before Him, but my life’s mission is to be strong. To be vulnerable before God is so contrary to our thinking, our behaviour, and quite frankly our view of life and survival.
Job was exasperated when he said, “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.” Brokenness seemed to be like an end, he didn’t embrace it.
However, the Psalmists teach us another story. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18. And Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”
This is a very tough place to get to. A young man on our team at the office likes to tell the story of falling sick and being taken to the hospital. He said that in his weakness they stripped all of his clothing including his underwear and put him on a gurney and left him there for a long time naked as all of the hospital staff went about their other business. He was vulnerable, exposed, and embarrassed. But he was in the only place where he could be made well and become strong enough to walk out of there whole.
Sometimes strength, true strength, only comes when we become weak. Paul concluded, “when I am weak, then I am strong.” It’s the same for us.
Think on these things:
- Are there any experiences that have pushed you to be strong?
- Are there any inner hurts or pain that you seek to cover with an outward show of strength?
- Have you ever got to a place of weakness where you experienced healing, comfort, and true strength?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be vulnerable before God that we might find true strength in Him.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
