Pages

Monday, October 10, 2011

Joy in Weakness

I was struggling with choreography for a show. I could not get it no matter how hard I tried and my brain was completely fried. Then God and I talked about it. I wasn't entirely pleasant about it, but He reminded me of some things about Himself. Then we had a good laugh at my frustration. Afterwards, I wrote this as a response to our discussion.


Thank you, Jesus, For my weaknesses. My Utter weakness. The smallness of my brain for the largeness of Your strength.

If God is making all of us glorious as He is glorious(1) and He shows us His strength in our weakness(2), then weakness becomes joy because God is glorified by weakness because he makes us able to endure it, glorifies Himself with it and our joy is in His glory. Because He is making (and has not yet finished making) us glorious as He is glorious, He will show us and expound upon our weaknesses for His greatest glory.

To a blind man Jesus said that he was born blind for the works of God to be revealed(3). God creates us with great weaknesses to show His great glory. And we can take part in the revealing of His glory because of our weakness.

If we were not weak He would not make us strong because we would already be strong. Through our weaknesses God shows us our own frailty and desperate need of His strength. Our weaknesses are intended for His glory and our joy.

Take joy in weakness. Don't be discouraged by inability, ask God for peace through our incompetence instead of smoldering in pride. Frustration with our weaknesses does not bring us into joy and intimacy with God, but into anger and bitterness. "Why did you make me this way?" "Why can't I get this right?" "Why didn't you helped me like I asked you to?" all come from pride and drag us into self-loathing and/or God-loathing. Our joy comes from acknowledging our weakness and letting His strength, even if only in the form of patience and endurance, work in us. Enjoy weakness.


Footnotes

(1) 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

(2) 2 Corinthians 12:9 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

(3) John 9:1-3 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

1 comment:

  1. Choreography is alway terrifying! I'd rather sight read an area or do a cold reading in any dialect than have to learn a combination,but judging from your tone here, I gather you're probably a much better dancer than I am. It's always frustrating when we struggle with anything, but especially something we know we're good at. I think it's God's way of keeping us humble, and reminding us to look heavenward even in the little aspects of our life. This verse always helps me :2 Corinthians 12:7 "Therefore to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me - to keep me from being proud."

    ReplyDelete