Day 7 ~ The Strength of Your Weakness

"Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness." -Jean Vanier


In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle Paul says, "For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 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." Though he was continually buffeted by his 'weakness', he understood the power of this weakness in his life. When we get too haughty, which is easy for this nature to rise up and do, we are more apt to forget God, or worse yet, we begin to think we are God and act in the stead of God. We can raise ourselves up above God, make ourselves God, and think what we think and do, IS the will of God. Is this not what the Apostle Paul did with his knowledge concerning the law? He used it to kill One God Apostolics and consented unto their deaths! This picture of the Apostle Paul represents a clear picture of all of us. Proud, haughty, and arrogant at times, and when we get this way, we are sure to raise ourselves up higher than needed and beyond the truth of our abilities.

You may be wondering...'what does this have to do with the contest and changing our lifestyle?' Well, I think it has everything to do with it. We are coming to the end of the first week. There is no doubt, some of us may have already experienced 'weakness' of the flesh. The past has definitely come back in all it's glory to haunt you and intimidate you! But herein lies the victory, if you will be willing to recognize it! The more we understand our weaknesses, the more we will understand our need for God! We are in desperate need of a Savior! If we will truly come clean, not one of us can make the changes necessary in this contest without the anointing power of an Almighty God. I am not talking about momentary changes here. I am talking about a change of LIFE that can only transpire when God touches the human heart and the only way such a change can happen is when we humble ourselves and admit we are weak without Him. King David said, "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God." (Psalm 40:16-17) What? Poor and needy? If King David were rich in material wealth, how could he be poor and needy? It is because he wasn't talking about material possessions, he was talking about his spirit and understanding. Maybe this is why God loved David so much. Though he was wealthy and held the position of an earthly king, David knew who was the real King! He knew his weaknesses and understood the fallibility of his thinking. "The strength of a person is often weighed by how they deal with their weaknesses." ~ Nathaniel Summers

Now there may be some who read this blog today and have not felt any assault on their bodies or any mental weakness to compromise. So maybe its just a heads up for future reference when the assault does come your way. As I have said before, eighteen weeks is a long time, and to maintain any strength of character in this contest, you will be confronted by your weaknesses! And if you do not deal with any of this, well, you just are not human. Either you are not human or you are just too proud to admit you have any weaknesses. Robert Louis Stevenson said, "You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?" And so with Mr. Stevenson's words in mind, lets not avoid our weakness. Let us together use these eighteen weeks to tap into our weaknesses. Lets come clean before God, drop our images, let down our guards, and let God arise in our lives. When our pride falls to ground, our load will be lighter and the Lord will lift us up on His scales of Life. Together we can step into the victory that our weaknesses hold...a closer walk with the Lord.