My Weakness His Strength

10/18/2024

Weakness is something that no one likes to claim. I don’t find it easy to admit when I am weak in any way. I remember when I first made my big international move to start my journey as a missionary in England. There were so many areas of my life that were the epitome of weakness!

I all but cried in the grocery store when I couldn’t find the things that I was searching for. Everything looked so foreign, literally! And it wasn’t even in a different language. (Although I do contend that there are two very different languages called English!) I had to learn to drive on the other side of the road and the other side of the car. And the signs were all different! I felt like at every turn or even every moment I was just so very weak. Thankfully with the help of good friends and time, what used to be foreign to me has become familiar and even welcoming.

The weakness of living abroad has become my strength! I love the life the Lord has given me here. I am glad that I didn’t give in and go home when my weaknesses were so evident at the beginning!

What happens when weakness in our spiritual life rears its head?

If you have not faced spiritual weakness, you may not have spent much time evaluating your heart against the Word of God. I have been saved for more than 35 years, and I continue to encounter areas of spiritual weakness in my life. My areas of weakness are probably not the same as yours. However, God knows each of us.

Psalm 103:14 reminds us that God knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. He knows exactly the weak points in your life, and yet He still loves and ministers to your needs. He doesn’t exploit those weaknesses. Instead, He uses those areas to show His strength in our lives when we let Him. If anyone knows about weakness, it is our Lord!

Look at 2 Corinthians 13:4.

“For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God towards you.”

Did you catch that?

God wants us to remain in our weakness so that He can show His power through us!

Recognizing those weaknesses that I can’t change and that I will always battle reminds me that I am right where I need to be in order to see the great power of God work in and through me. My weakness drives me to my knees and the Word to find passages like this one that will encourage my heart and keep me from living in defeated weakness.

The truth is this – My weakness only serves to magnify God’s strength in my life. Paul said it this way – “…for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10b).

When we recognize our weakness and give it over to the Lord, we get to live in the reality of that weakness so that the power of God can sustain us instead. So, the next time you are struggling in your weakness, don’t despair and give up! Thank the Lord for that weakness and claim His strength to live for Him by His sustaining power!