The way most people deal with their weaknesses is by either defending them, excusing them, hiding them or denying them. But God has a different perspective about our weakness and how to deal with them.
The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:9
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Why?
Because ...
- Acknowledging Our Weaknesses Causes Us To Depend On God!
That's right! When God's people recognize they are weak and helpless then they are forced to cry out to God for help. And that's a good thing. When God's people cry out to Him for help, God is so ready to show up and show off the great and mighty things He is able to do.
But if God's people don't recognize their need for God's help, they won't cry out to him for help. And if they don't cry out to Him for help God won't send the power they need to handle their situation.
And in order to accomplish God's work - God's way we are dependent on God to send His power to accomplish it.
- Acknowledging Our Weaknesses Prevents Arrogance From Creeping Into Our Hearts And Keeps Us Humble.
Human pride is the #1 reason that keeps God's power from flowing through the lives of His people. When God's people feel they can take care of their own problems and they don't need to worry God with their troubles that attitude keeps they power of God from flowing into their lives.
What is needed is a healthy amount of humility that allows God's people to acknowledge they absolutely need God's help and that they can't do it on their own. I mean, if we could do it on our own we would have already done it! Right? But we haven't and that because we can't do the things of God without God's help.
- Acknowledging Our Weakness Encourages Fellowship With Our Brothers and Sisters In Christ.
When we know that we are unable to do something on our own we seek not only God's help but we share it with other Christians and ask them to keep us in prayer. The Bible is real clear on this point. We are to pray for one another. We are to lift each other up before the throne of Grace and petition God to meet the need of our brother or sister in Christ.
Quite often it is during this time of prayer for one another that God speaks to his people to come alongside the one asking for prayer and help them. And if not help, it certainly will create a tender heart for the one asking for prayer.
- Acknowledging Our Weaknesses Gives Us The Capacity To Sympathize With Those We Are To Minister To.
There is an old saying, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And that is never more true than when it comes to living a powerful missional life. When we acknowledge our own weaknesses we develop the capacity to come alongside others who too are hurting and suffering with a caring heart.
4 Steps For Allowing God's Power
To Work Through Your Weaknesses
Step #1: Admit You Have Weaknesses:
In the New Testament there were two great confessions. The first one is with the Apostle Peter when he said about Jesus, "You are the Christ the Son of the living God." The second was the Apostle Paul to an idolizing crowd who believed that he and Barnabas were Gods. Paul said, "We are only human beings like you."
If we want God to use us through our weaknesses we must first know who He is.
He Is God!
And as God He can do anything through anybody. And that includes even us who are weak!
And then we must also know who we are!
We Are Not God!
We must never forget this 2nd truth. We are only humans and apart from Christ we can do nothing. But through Christ I can do all things.
Step #2: Delight In Your Weaknesses:
"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 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." 2 Cor 12:9-10
This verse gives us the idea of being content with God's grace and with our weaknesses. However, most of us don't want to be content with our weaknesses - we want to be freed from them. We want to eliminate our weaknesses.
But Why Should We Be Content Or Delight In Our Weaknesses?
"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." 1 Cor. 1:27 (NIV)
God likes uses our weaknesses to remind us that we are not all that important, that we truly are dependent upon Him for everything and thereby keep us humble. Humility, not pride, is the virtue that God looks for in a person to do his extraordinary work.
Step #3: Honestly Share Your Weaknesses:
Ministry always begins with vulnerability. The more you let down your guard, take off your mask and share your struggles the more God can use you to serve others.
Step #4: Glory In Your Weakness:
Ministry always begins with vulnerability. The more you let down your guard, take off your mask and share your struggles the more God can use you to serve others.
Paul Modeled Vulnerability
Through His failures.
"For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing." Romans 7:19 (NIV)
Isn't this amazing? In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans he is clearly admitting that he has failed, that he has blown it and that he has done the things that he never wanted to do. Why would he do that? Because Paul understood that the greatest way to influence and encourage other Christians was to honestly admit his struggles and weaknesses.
Pretending he had it all together wasn't going to work. Why? Because it was a lie! But honest admitting his struggle gave freedom to others to admit their struggle and thereby receive the empowerment that comes from Christ
Through His feelings
"We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you."
2 Cor 6:11 (NIV)
Did you read that part where Paul said he opened wide his heart to the Corinthians? He didn't just come to share his knowledge, wisdom or understanding. Paul came to share his very heart and passion that he has for Christ. And that kind of heart felt sharing is contagious.
Sharing what Jesus means to you and why it He means so much to you is truly what people are wanting to know. And it is powerful!
Through His Struggles:
"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. - 2 Cor 1:8 (NIV)
When Paul honestly shared about his struggles and troubles with others Christians he once again showed others that even the great Apostle Paul had really hard days. It gave them once again an opportunity to prayer for him.
Later in my moms life when she was unable to get around as she once did, she made it her personal ministry to pray for her family, her church, missionaries and anything else that she heard about. She was a true "Prayer Warrior" in the truest sense of the word.
But I often kept my struggles and worries from her because I didn't want to burden her and worry her about what was going on in my life. That was until one day when my mom found out that I was going through a very difficult challenge. When she found out about it she asked me about why I didn't share it with her. I told her it was because I didn't want to worry her. Then she shared something to me that I have never forgot and completely changed my way of thinking about keeping my struggles private. She said,
"Son, there is so many things that I can no longer do in life because of my health. But there is one very important thing and maybe the most important things that I can still do and that is to pray for God's power and provisions to come into the lives of those who I love the most. But son, I can't pray for you as I ought if you don't share with me what's going on. Don't you worry about me. God has me in His hands and will take care of me. Just share with me what's going on and I promise to hound the gates of Heaven with my prayer on your behalf."
How can God's people pray for us in our times of weakness and needs if we don't share with them what's going on?
Through His fears
"I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling." 1 Cor 2:3 (NIV)
I don't know about you but I found this verse quite amazing! Why? Because never in my wildest dreams had I thought of the Apostle Paul fearful and trembling. But the truth is that Paul joined Christ on His mission with fear. And Paul was willing to share his fears with those he was trying to reach with the Gospel.
Read how the Living Bible writes 2 Cor. 12:5
"I am going to boast only about how weak I am and how great
God is to use such weakness for his glory."
Here's another way of putting it:
WE ARE GOD'S TROPHY'S OF GRACE!
This one verse in the song "He Covers Me" by Steve Camp's I think incapsulates the whole message of allowing God's power to work through our weaknesses!
"Sometimes the pressure builds around me and I feel about to break
I suffer painfully from wrongs done to me but vengeance isn't mine to take
So let me glory in my weakness till Your strength's revealed in me
It is Your grace alone that helps me carry on to be the man I long to be
So let Your life be perfected, Lord in me
Until it's You they see"
In my group The Ordinary Christian we have a saying that is kind of our theme song. It goes like this:
Just because I'm ordinary doesn't mean I'm secondary;
Ordinary Christians are God's primary choice
For accomplishing His extraordinary work!
So let us glory in our weakness and our ordinariness so that God's magnificence can be supremely displayed!
"Oh Father God and Lord Jesus may it be true with us that we are willing to lay on your alter all who we are including our weaknesses and allow you to have full control of them and to use them in whatever way you decide is best. Lord it is our prayer that through our weakness your power and glory is magnified. Shine through us Lord Jesus. Amen"
No comments:
Post a Comment