Experiencing Power in Weakness

I’m so glad that I was able to go to youth group tonight because I came away refreshed, with a deeper understanding of a lesson that I thought I had on lock. Let me explain.

One major truth that God has been showing me through out what at times seems like a never-ending trial, is that weakness is not something to be looked down upon, but rather embraced. The message tonight was so encouraging and exactly what I needed to hear. Despite having a really bad headache, I got a lot out of it. I’m just going to share a little and hopefully someone will also be moved by it.

Mike, the pastor of the high school ministry at our church, started off with some background on the Hebrew culture during the time of Jesus’ ministry, which shed a new light on some familiar passages. In those days, rabbis (spiritual teachers) had very prestigious roles in society. Similar to a doctor, or a lawyer, or a rocket scientist, rabbis were held above other occupations. As a result, they also had money. Families who were "well off" would send their children, at age SIX, to study under a rabbi in hopes of them learning, growing, and becoming a rabbi themselves. However, it was not an easy undertaking in the least. By age ten, they needed to have the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, memorized. I've recently read through Leviticus, and well, you try reading through it if that statement doesn't shock you. At that point, the rabbi would decide who had the most potential to learn the best and then send the rest back home where they would resort to learning the family trade—carpentry, fishing, blacksmithing? Or whatever it may be. By age fourteen, those who made the cut and remained under the rabbi’s direction would have the entire Hebrew Bible memorized! Woahhh! Crazy stuff right?! The rabbi would then make another cut, deciding who would stay and who would go home. By the end, I guess after more years of training and more cuts, only one or two students would remain, and so they would eventually “graduate”, become rabbis, do ministry, and continue the cycle.

Before people acknowledged Jesus as the Son of the Most High God, he was recognized as a teacher like the rabbis, specifically, though, as "one who taught with authority." Jesus was counter-cultural.
Unlike all the other rabbis of the age, he made the first move. Jesus called his disciples by name to follow him, and he didn’t require any monetary payment from them. He was definitely a different kind of teacher. Furthermore, the kind of men he called would not have met the standards of the other rabbis. They were fishermen, tax collectors, the lowly and uneducated men of the town, yet Jesus wanted them. He reached out to them with great purpose.

No one is too far beyond the reach of God’s outstretched arm. His love for us is so deep. It’s unfathomable. Unfortunately we have a hard time understanding his love especially when we believe the lies of the Enemy, Satan, that we have messed up too much to be loved by God or have fallen too far from his grace to be redeemed. Those lies must be brought out of the darkness and into the light because the truth is “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). That’s pretty much as all-inclusive as you can get. And that’s truth. We have no excuses. God loves us and we can't do anything to change that. He created each of us in his own image, but because we’re all born as sinful people, we are initially separated from him, for he is holy and just. But because of God’s great love for us, he sent Jesus, his one and only son, into this world to live a perfect life among us imperfect human beings, not to condemn us, but to save us by making complete atonement for all our sin through his death on a cross and victory over sin by being raised to life again on the third day. That’s CRAZY LOVE!! We were already his. He MADE us. Yet he bought us with the ultimate price to show the world how much he cares and desires to be in an intimate relationship with us. Soooo cool!!! Amen?? ---

Now we have the advantage of knowing all about Jesus' life, but the disciples at the time, were probably just amazed that Jesus asked them to follow him, which is really where I wanted to focus on tonight but I am constantly awestruck by God’s immense, unconditional love for us that I can’t help but write about it. :) So anyways, back to Mike’s message tonight…..

He then read a passage from 1 Corinthians, chapter 1 verse 26 through chapter 2 verse 5. This is from the letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth:

“ Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. ”

Although I’ve read this passage before, I know that the Word of God is alive and active and I totally felt that tonight. Like I said earlier, I’ve been learning how to embrace my weakness because it's the best thing I can do in my situation. The area that has been the hardest for me though, has been my mind. Before I got sick, I was able to think and process things faster and at a much deeper level than I can now. My memory has also been affected in all this as well. It’s been one of, if not the most, frustrating and emotionally draining part of this whole being sick thing….especially recently. Like I usually always cry when I talk about it. It’s so difficult enough to feel like myself when I'm in pain most of the time, but when I feel like I've lost my mind, my intellect, I just don’t feel like me. Like something is missing. And it is. Right now my mind is pretty weak by the world’s standards. That's why starting this blog was such a step of faith for me. But the cool thing is, like Paul was saying to the Corinthians, God delights in using the weak things of this world to shame the strong so that no one may boast before him. Paul, who we often see as the “all-star Christian” of the New Testament, put his weakness on display in order that God’s power would be demonstrated and become the foundation for the church’s faith. My prayer is that God would work through my weakness and that His power would effect your life in a unique way just as it has transformed mine.

One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 12:9 when the Lord says to Paul who is pleading for Him to remove the thorn in his side, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I don't think I really understand what that verse meant before I got sick, until I was made weak. This may sound crazy....but if you ever want to experience the perfection of God’s power in your life, ask for weakness, ask to be broken down. He will not only break you and make you weak, but in doing so, when you humble yourself by turning to Him and relying on his strength, He will make you strong. It’s amazing. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (v. 9b-10)

So whatever your weakness, I’d encourage you to turn it over to the Lord right now. Lift it up to him in a humble, honest prayer and watch as his power is made perfect through it. Weakness isn’t something to be looked down upon, but rather it’s an opportunity to encounter God in a deeper way. Embrace it. And remember, nothing is impossible with God.


“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Jesus (Matthew 11:28-29)