UV 1136/10,000 Strengths-
Weakness Patterns and God’s Ways of Grace
And he said unto
me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12 v 9
The Biblical views on strength and weakness is quite contrary to what modern
management and leadership teaches. Modern management teaches us to
rely on utilising “ six signature strengths every day” and to ignore the
deficiencies or weaknesses. But this uni-verse teaches us to glory in our
weaknesses and to be suspicious of our strengths. St Paul had many
natural strengths-he was skilled in Greek dialectic, Jewish theology. Though
Jew he was a Roman citizen. He was trained by one of the top Jewish teachers
of the time – Gamaliel. He was zealous for the Jewish faith. He was
a strong leader and a powerful writer. He had a supernatural vision and
dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Paul was given a thorn in the
flesh, probably a painful ailment to remind him of his dependence on the grace
of God. Our weaknesses are God’s memorandum to us, to make us conscious
that of ourselves we are weak but in His grace we can do all things.
Grace is meant for God’s glory, not ours. Today,we find many men of God
have doctorates and other titles of honour while Jesus alone has no doctorate
or title like them. Paul could have taken an exalted title like chief among the
apostles to the Gentiles but he focussed on daily appropriating the
strength of the Lord while being continually conscious of his severe
intellectual, physical and spiritual limitations. God’s grace can
take us the whole distance. We will never run out of steam as long as we
depend on the Lord to enable us to do that which He has assigned to us.
It does not mean that we keep our strengths idle or dormant or unutilised but
that when we seek, depend and utilise God’s grace in every situation, whether
favourable or adverse, the optimum of our strengths and weaknesses is put
into play. We need not hate ourselves for our weaknesses. We need not
hate or be shy of acknowledging our weaknesses but own them as part of us, the
very gates through which God’s grace and power will be poured into our lives.
David as he took up the challenge to confront Goliath knew that he was
physically weaker than him to attempt to fight him hand to hand. But he
remembered that he had a skill with the sling that could keep him at a safe
distance from which he could knock down Goliath. He needed God's grace
for the sling throw to be accurate enough to hit Goliath at a vulnerable point
on his forehead. At the end of the day, if David had relied on his
natural strengths he would have failed but God enabled him to use his natural
gift to strike a deadly blow.
It is in our weakness and inadequacy that the power, strength and mercy of the
Lord is manifested and exhibited. When we
are self confident and rely on our inherent gifts and talents, the Lord
will maintain a stand-off position. When we are strong, we are weak.
We will wittingly or unwittingly be full of ourselves, our plans, our
dreams, our talents, our ideas, our achievements. There would not be
enough elbow room for God in our lives. But when we look to Him for help, for
supernatural enablement, He will rush to our side.
When we are weak and dependent on His grace, we
are strong. Only when our ego goes, God can come. Paul
therefore delighted in his weaknesses, reproaches, insults, persecutions,
oppression, setbacks, reverses, distresses. We too need to recognize the
huge opportunity we have in these otherwise adverse circumstances, for in such
times God walks closest to us. When the going gets tough, the godly get
to God.
When the favour of God rests on us, the power of Christ will be manifested.
When the favour of God rested on Jesus after his baptism in the Jordan at
the hands of John the Baptist, the power of the Holy Spirit descended and
rested on Jesus. God declared, “ This is my own beloved Son, listen to
Him.” Similarly, when we are weak, we tend to be more obedient and God
will endorse us saying, “ This is my own beloved son or daughter- listen to him
or her. What is meant by the power of Christ? It is the power to be
victorious in all circumstances, even over death as He demonstrated in His
resurrection.
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