His Strength, Our Weakness

Matthew 26:41 “Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak.”

Many times as women, we think that once we deal with something once we’ll never have to deal with it again. But, the truth is we must stay on guard throughout our lives in the areas that we know we have weaknesses in. There’s an old saying that “deliverance is daily”. I must take the time to figure out what areas of my life I have weaknesses in. At times, I deal with jealousy, people pleasing, and being undisciplined. Do these weaknesses define me? No! Often times we fear that admitting our weaknesses will define who we are as people! Don’t be condemned by your weaknesses! We all have areas in our lives that we need to deal with, and we can all overcome them. But we do it daily by relying on God’s Holy Spirit to guide our everyday moments, and trusting that “his grace is sufficient . . . and his power is made perfect in my weakness” -2Corinthians 12: 9.

We shouldn't wait until we are overwhelmed with temptation or chaos to pray for God’s help.

In those still quiet moments before we begin our day, even when things are going great, or when we know that we may be faced with a certain situation that may trigger or stretch us in an area of weakness we need to begin praying in advance. Ask for God’s help, and most importantly ask that his will be done!

Our own plans and personal strategies to deal with weaknesses in our lives often seem strong, solid, and foolproof. We believe in our hearts that if things would just work out the way we planned, the way we want, then we would be so much happier. Not realizing that our Creator knows our hearts better than we know them ourselves. He knows what will bring us true happiness and what truly won’t. We just have to trust that if he loved us enough to sacrifice his only son, then surely he desires to see his beloved children be happy. Just as we desire to see our own children be happy. But not the kind of happiness that we know will cost them greatly down the line.

God is a much better parent than we could ever be! We just have to trust him in that childlike way a toddler does, instead of acting like rebellious, know it all, and have to always learn the hard way teenagers!

That same childlike trust requires us to accept that God won’t take some weaknesses from us to allow us to learn how to always depend on him and avoid destructive forces that wait to overtake our lives. When Paul talks of the thorn in his side that the Lord would not take away, he says “ . . . and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel (or demon) did his best to get me down; but what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger of then walking around high and mighty! 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 grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.’ Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.

I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become!”

This is the very explanation for why a man born with no arms and legs can experience a life filled with more happiness, joy, and adventure, than a man born with all four limbs who is living in depression, being beaten down by life daily. Just take a moment to Google Nick Vujicic or Atlanta’s own Kyle Maynard, who had more than enough weaknesses to deal with that could have caused them to give in or give up, and lead lives of mediocrity. If through their faith, they were empowered to rise above their weaknesses, persevering through, and dealing with them daily! Then how much more inspired should we be to not let our weaknesses define us, or cause us to doubt our faith. But instead to defiantly and diligently trust in our God and believe that “through Christ we can do (and conquer) all things!”-Philippians 4:13.

Be blessed GenEve, beautiful women of God! Be encouraged, uplifted, and motivated to believe that in his will anything is possible!!