Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit with my oldest daughter. We were waiting on her fiance’s family to all arrive. They are taking a two week vacation to Florida. I was driving part of them in her finance’s car to the airport and returning his car to their home and picking up Charlie dog to stay with me for two weeks. We sat on the deck and got to talking.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Have you ever sat and pondered what your weaknesses are? What makes you weak?
None of are perfect, we all have flaws. WHen you have a job interview your potential employer will ask what are your weaknesses. I always thought this was an odd question. They do not care about your weaknesses, they just want to know if you acknowledge them or not. NO one wants to admit their shortcomings.
It is human nature to appear strong and confident so we do not allow anyone to see the internal struggles we have. Struggles make us appear weak and unable. You can succeed at hiding them from people, but you can not succeed at hiding them from God. Afterall, he created you and your weaknesses.
Why would God work weakness into our makeup?
Because he wants us to acknowledge and embrace our weaknesses if we want his strength to be seen in us. Weakness is an opportunity for him to work powerfully in our lives. Weakness does not mean we do not have what it takes. This is a common lie tactic satan convinces us of. Weakness means we are not in charge and do not know everything. It is part of our character that makes us easily fall in the face of temptation.
Famous Weaknesses:
Noah: After the flood, Noah had a vineyard that produced grapes and alcohol. He had a drinking issue and brought shame upon himself when he drank so much he laid naked for all to see. (Genesis 9:20-24)
Moses: Moses had a bad anger issue. He got so mad he killed an egyptian and then had to go on the run for 40 years. (Exodus 2:11-15) Then he disobeyed God, got angry and did exactly what God told him not to do. God told Moses because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I’ve given them. (Numbers 20:1-13)
David: Got bored and saw a woman bathing. He lost self control and decided to have an affair with her and eventually killed her husband to cover it up.
Solomon: Given the title as the wisest king ever, had over 700 wives and 300 (1 KIngs 11:1-3) concubines. His kingdom was worth 3 trillion dollars in today’s US currency. He became obsessed with wealth.
Sampson: Strongest man to ever walk the earth had a rebellion, arrogance and lust issue. It finally drove him to losing his strength at the hands of a prostitute.
Peter: You knew, we could not leave him off the list. Peter was over confident and it led to him to compromise who he really was.
Jonah: Was contemptuous and ran from God.
James and John: Jesus called them sons of thunder. In anger they asked Jesus to call down fire and brimstone to destroy the samaritans who persecuted them.
Abraham: suffered anxiety over a looming famine and went to Egypt. While there he lied about being married and they were tossed out of Egypt. Then he in his impatience tried to do the work of God.
Paul: was a persecutor and a murderer.
The list is endless when it comes to the shortcomings of God’s people. But what did God do about it? When these people realized that their own weakness could not be overcome by themselves, God intervened and made that weakness and strength.
Paul, in my opinion is the most notable. God took his haltered of the Christians and turned it into the greatest love. Just spend time reading all his letters to the churches and see how much Paul loved his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
SO we are all flawed. What does the Word of God say about weakness:
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart,
my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26
29 He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless
Isaiah 40:29
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us[a] with inexpressible groanings. Romans 8:26
15 Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Romans 15:1
Our weaknesses become a strength when we acknowledge them to God. It is His strength that works through us. Our weaknesses get us into a lot of trouble. It is our weaknesses and hiding them that cause us to seek to keep them covered up, yet they always seem to have a way of controlling us leading us down a path we should not go.
Our weaknesses are a testimony of the power of God in our lives. I could spend two pots of coffee and an entire afternoon speaking about the weaknesses I had and how they led me to do some pretty terrible things. No one has gone any darker or deeper in that pit than I have. The transforming power of God is the testimony of how he turned those weaknesses on their head. When we open ourselves to sharing our own weaknesses with one another it is a testimony of Christ.
I shared with my daughter that one of my greatest weaknesses was empathy. Sounds crazy that the ability to have compassion for others is a weakness. The problem with people that have been subjected to abuse for as long as I have is that they are the least loved. You will find that the least loved are the ones who try to love the most. The weakness is loving to the point you will compromise. You will give up your identity and allow someone else to write in who you are. You will give up your belief and faith just for the bread crumbs of love and affection from another. You think that if you could just love more….those bread crumbs will turn into a Thanksgiving dinner. But they never do. It opened the door to self degradation, depravity, and all together losing the identity of who God says you are.
God flipped empathy on its head in me when he spend many months showing me who I am to Him. I did not need to compromise my identity, faith, and trust to get the breadcrumbs of someone else. I am already someone to Him. I do not need to prove myself to be loved because I am loved by Him. Then he took my greatest weakness and turned it into a strength by working a real love of Him through me. To see the needs of people and allow him to work through me to meet those needs. He gave me compassion for someone who has done terrible things to me, to see their need for Christ and to pray for them everyday.
He has given me a compassion for the people who are suffering. I can not fix them, but I can speak truth with love and share the hope of Christ with them. He works unconditional love through me. To love people without any hope of that love being returned. I do not need the love of others to feel loved because the love that is in me is perfect.
What are your weaknesses? Are you hiding any weakness? Christ wants to flip that weakness on its head and make it one of your greatest strengths. Our weakness is the testimony of Christ transforming us into a new creation. When we allow Christ to make us whole, He transforms us into a living breathing walking testimony of His power to transform.
It Starts Small 
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