Believers Delight – in Weakness
Believers Delight – in Weakness.
A working definition of weakness as we consider how weakness may bring us delight: A lack of strength due to: sickness; a handicap; an ongoing difficulty; a distressing hardship; insulting opposition; a glaring vulnerability; a limitation that puts one at a disadvantage; the bearing of a difficult burden of someone else.
Scripture Meditation: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, a weaving together of the Message, NIV, and the Amplified Bible versions: “I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me: ‘My favor and lovingkindness are enough for you; My merciful love is all you need. In fact, my strength comes into its own in your weakness. My power shows itself most effective when you are weak.’ Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weakness and infirmities, so that the strength of Christ Jesus may pitch a tent over me and dwell upon me. Now I take limitations in stride and with good cheer, delighting in opposition, in bad breaks, in insults, in weaknesses, in perplexities, in distresses, and in all kinds of hardships. I just let Christ take over! For when I am weak in human strength, then am I truly powerful in divine strength. The weaker I get, the stronger I become.”
A Thoughtful Quote, from Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ:
“The Christian often tries to forget his weakness; God wants us to remember it, to feel it deeply.
The Christian wants to conquer his weakness and to be freed from it; God wants us to rest and even rejoice in it.
The Christian mourns over his weakness; Christ teaches his servant to say, ‘I take pleasure in infirmities; most gladly will I glory in my infirmities.
The Christian thinks his weakness his greatest hindrance in the service of God; God tells us that it is the secret of strength and success.
It is our weakness, heartily accepted and continually realized, that gives us our claim and access to the strength of Him who said, ‘My strength is made perfect in weakness.’”
Scripture Meditation. 2 Corinthians 11:23-30, NIV: “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, from bandits, from my own countrymen, from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in the country, at sea, from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face the daily pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (St. Paul)
A Thoughtful Quote, from Ken Gire, Windows of the Soul:
“Help me, God, to realize
It is in being crippled that I learn to cling, and in limping that I learn to lean,
That victory comes not in how courageously I struggle but in how completely I surrender;
And that this is how I am to grow, by being defeated, decisively, by constantly greater things.
Help me to understand that your power is perfected in weakness, so that when I am rendered weak, you are given the opportunity to be shown strong.”