Boasting in Weakness
"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
What a glorious passage of Scripture! Last night God led me here to a passage I'd read numerous times before, but He gave me peace through it just then. For weeks, my heart and mind have been agonizing over my incapability to perform all the required tasks in my life to the level I envision. I desire for God to be glorified in all I do and He's not if I don't do my tasks well. I see certain areas of my life, where God has called and burdened me, failing because of my simultaneous desire to perform well and please in other areas. As expectations rise and responsibilities pile up, my calling has seemed to be pushed to the wayside, placed on the proverbial "back burner". This has been grieving me for weeks and I've been struggling against this trend and trying to keep up with my calling while still meeting all the requirements of new responsibilities. Many tears have been shed, many prayers and supplications have gone up to God, and still nothing but failure, failure, failure. Accomplishments will be made in one area of my life to the detriment and denial of other extremely important ones. While this grieves and pains me, God showed me through Paul's struggle in 2 Corinthians that weakness drives me to Christ and His sufficiency!
"I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13)
With Christ, all things are possible! So, I boast in my complete inability to accomplish all that is before me. I boast in my inadequacy and my weakness. I boast in my emotional distresses and perceived difficulties because when I am weak, I am strong through the power of Christ in me. In the areas I fail (all of them), Christ is sufficient! When I fail to be a good teacher because the schedule is too packed, Christ is sufficient! He will empower me to teach well in decreased time. When I fail to keep my house clean because I've spent so much time doing other tasks, Christ is sufficient! He will give me energy at late hours to clean. When I fail to study the Word through the workday, Christ is sufficient! He will drive me to prayer and give me focus in the late hours to glean nourishment from His Word. He will help me to go to the Word for encouragement and pull out from my mind those Scriptures that He has written on my heart. When I fail to maintain intimate relationships with brothers and sisters because of tight scheduling, Christ is sufficient! He will show me creative and efficient ways I may edify and encourage the brethren throughout the week and will burden my heart to lift them up in prayer.
May God keep my troubled heart at peace in this knowledge that my weakness is the perfect stage on which He may display His strength! May God be magnified in my weakness!
What a glorious passage of Scripture! Last night God led me here to a passage I'd read numerous times before, but He gave me peace through it just then. For weeks, my heart and mind have been agonizing over my incapability to perform all the required tasks in my life to the level I envision. I desire for God to be glorified in all I do and He's not if I don't do my tasks well. I see certain areas of my life, where God has called and burdened me, failing because of my simultaneous desire to perform well and please in other areas. As expectations rise and responsibilities pile up, my calling has seemed to be pushed to the wayside, placed on the proverbial "back burner". This has been grieving me for weeks and I've been struggling against this trend and trying to keep up with my calling while still meeting all the requirements of new responsibilities. Many tears have been shed, many prayers and supplications have gone up to God, and still nothing but failure, failure, failure. Accomplishments will be made in one area of my life to the detriment and denial of other extremely important ones. While this grieves and pains me, God showed me through Paul's struggle in 2 Corinthians that weakness drives me to Christ and His sufficiency!
"I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13)
With Christ, all things are possible! So, I boast in my complete inability to accomplish all that is before me. I boast in my inadequacy and my weakness. I boast in my emotional distresses and perceived difficulties because when I am weak, I am strong through the power of Christ in me. In the areas I fail (all of them), Christ is sufficient! When I fail to be a good teacher because the schedule is too packed, Christ is sufficient! He will empower me to teach well in decreased time. When I fail to keep my house clean because I've spent so much time doing other tasks, Christ is sufficient! He will give me energy at late hours to clean. When I fail to study the Word through the workday, Christ is sufficient! He will drive me to prayer and give me focus in the late hours to glean nourishment from His Word. He will help me to go to the Word for encouragement and pull out from my mind those Scriptures that He has written on my heart. When I fail to maintain intimate relationships with brothers and sisters because of tight scheduling, Christ is sufficient! He will show me creative and efficient ways I may edify and encourage the brethren throughout the week and will burden my heart to lift them up in prayer.
May God keep my troubled heart at peace in this knowledge that my weakness is the perfect stage on which He may display His strength! May God be magnified in my weakness!
Amen! Thanks for the encouragement, Sister. I am glad to hear that the Lord is filling you with His strength to do His will. Without it, how incapable are we!
How, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
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Yes, Katy! How blessed we are, we poor in spirit. Thank you for the encouragement. Now that God has shown me His will that I find peace in my weakness, may I live as though I understand it and be thankful that He uses my weakness to manifest His strength not only to me but to others. Love you Sister!
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Great blog! Christ displays His strength most clearly when we are weakest.
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Yes! He does! I love comments from the grave! Love you Baby! Thank you for your support, counsel, and faithfulness to guide and direct me toward our Lord when my heart and mind so quickly stray and become discouraged. I love you, Baby (a.k.a. Jonathan, Larry the Cucumber, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, etc...)!
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