weakness

“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)

I don’t know about you, but I go to great lengths to try and hide my weaknesses.  I even go so far as to try and never operate outside my areas of strength.  I do this, I suppose, because my goal in life is for everyone to think the best of me.  The problem is that when I live my life trying to make everyone think the best of me, I leave one significant thing out—God!  I forget that this life is not about me at all, but about him.

Paul got that.  I guess that’s why he could make this outlandish statement about gladly boasting about his weaknesses.  I mean, who does that?  Someone who cares more about God’s glory that his own, that’s who.  Someone who realizes that God’s power is on full display when we are completely out of the way.  Someone who understands that we actually block people’s view of God when we are trying to get them to look at us.  Someone who realizes that when he is operating out of his own strength, he is actually keeping God’s power from being made perfect.

O Lord, help me to be more like Paul.  Help me to embrace and celebrate my weaknesses, because they are opportunities for you to show your power.  For when I try to hide my weaknesses, I am actually hiding—or denying—the sufficiency of your grace.  Lord Jesus, give me the power to be weak.