Show Strength Through Weakness
Jesus, the Holy Son of God, the one person who is 100% God and 100% man, is the most powerful person to ever walk on the planet. He chose to be humble, generous, loving, and patient. Our savior shows strength through weakness
God is a loving, kind, wonderful God. He made us in His image, so why don’t we understand Him better than we do? There are times when God does things that boggle our human minds. Once in awhile, someone, while examining the word of God, will check its original history, compare it to the culture of the day, and then finally finds a parallel to compare it to our everyday lives.
We Can Do Nothing Without Him
It is written: “God’s ways are not our ways.” He will prove to us, the prideful, human race that He reigns over all in Heaven and on Earth. We, as a race, often get a little “too big for our britches.” And forget that we can do nothing without Him. (2nd Corinthians 3: 4-5, John 15:5)
- Look what “I” did!
- “I” alone will conquer!
- “I am the greatest of all time.”
- “Well. Don’t you understand who I am?”
- “I shall build a tower to reach the Heavens.”
I don’t know what you think, but I see a consistent pattern, a puffed-up prideful and arrogant attitude. These people feel they’re “all that” and have left absolutely no room for God. They think they deserve all the accolades because, in their minds, they have overblown their sense of self-worth and have left no room for God or anybody else. I am sure you’ve met one or two of these personalities in your lifetime. I sincerely hope that these individuals learn about God and the love of Jesus Christ before it is too late.
Strength Through Weakness
Have you ever noticed in the Bible God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek to accomplish His most important work.
Alone in Faith
For example, Noah. A great man, yes? Not according to the people in his community. Noah was in the minority; he respected God when no one else would. The locals acted foolishly; pridefully, they saddened God’s heart until He had enough. Noah was the only one worthy enough to be trusted to build the ark and save humanity from destruction. Noah humbled himself before God. He didn’t succumb to the ridicule of his peers. He appeared to be weak when he was mighty in the Lord.
Strong in Faith – Weak in Body
Isaiah is another humble servant of the Lord, who speaks of how God uses the meek and the powerless to serve the will of God. “He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.” Isaiah 40:29 NKJV.
Fled in Fear – Returned with God
Moses was a great and wonderful leader for the children of Isreal. He was strong and faithful to God. He stood up to Pharoh and led his people to the Red Sea, where he defeated the Egyptian army, right? No, without God, none of this would have happened.
In reality, Moses was raised with the elite of the Egyptian court. Later he tried to defend a fellow Hebrew man but in anger, murdered another Egyptian citizen instead. Moses was fearful of the wrath that would come, so he fled.
Moses became a shepherd and was content to live his days in the wilderness. However, God had other plans for Moses. Moses was not a great man on his own. He was a great man, only with the power of God’s will behind him.
David’s Weakness – David’s Strength
King David, a mighty king that led Isreal into prosperity by defeating their enemies and growing the country’s spiritual health, right? Without God, David couldn’t have done this on his own.
The prophet and Judge Samuel anointed a poor shepherd boy, the least of the family I might add to be Israel’s second king. This boy was chosen because of his character and his humble devotion to God.
I will also add King David was far from perfect. When he strayed from God’s word and let his pride and lust take hold, inevitable consequences from God happened as a result of his sin. David repented to God, however, because David was a man who was after God’s own heart, God also blessed him; the lineage of David led to the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
All of these examples tell us that without God, we can accomplish nothing. We may think we did it all by our own accord, but we can do nothing without Him.
Lack of Humility – Strength Through Weakness
The Apostle Paul is another example of a man who was transformed by Jesus to accomplish great things. However, Paul needed a reminder of God’s power. He needed to lose his arrogant “I’m better than you” attitude and turn his strength toward Jesus.
“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2nd Corinthians 12:7-10 NKJV)
God allowed a “thorn in the flesh” to remind Paul that none of his accomplishments were possible without God. This passage shows strength through weakness.
His Kingdom
Jesus is the Son of God. Have you ever noticed, with all His power and majesty, He never used this power for his personal gain? Every step He made was for our salvation and teaching of the wonder of His kingdom.
“The meek shall inherit the Earth,” The humble and the meek are generally closer to the heart of God. These people typically don’t put themselves first, but always place the needs of others before their own. That is what Jesus did in the Bible. The truly meek will not become arrogant or allow their sense of self-worth to be inflated. Jesus was “The Man” and yet rarely acted on it, but when he did, it was for the benefit of someone else or for the glory of God. The humble, the meek will never steal the glory from God; they will always give God credit for their accomplishments.
If I had to sum up 2nd Corinthians, it would be “strength through weakness” or “we can do nothing without Him.” The Bible never says what Paul’s thorn was, but it exemplified a physical weakness. All that Paul accomplished was by the strength and power of Jesus Christ and not by the will of Paul alone. These individuals, through their weakness in flesh, allowed themselves to be strong in Christ so they may perform His will for the Glory of God.
Please let Jesus be the center of your life. If you live for Him, all your needs can and will be met. You’ll notice I didn’t say desires; some of these thoughts aren’t from God and will keep you away from His will for your life. Live the best life and have an eternal future in Heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s inviting you in, sit a spell, and enjoy the newness of life in Heaven.