Weakness Perfected

“The weaker I am, the harder I must lean on God\’s grace; the harder I lean on him, the stronger I discover him to be, and the bolder my testimony to his grace.” This is a quote by Joni Eareckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic when she was 17. Now at 72, she has been through more than most people could endure. Her body is useless, but through Jesus, her spirit is strong. Instead of despising her disability, she has allowed God to shine through it. She’s founded a worldwide ministry for people with disabilities and reaches thousands of people through programs, books, and speaking engagements. Joni is also an acclaimed vocalist. With limited lung capacity due to her disability, her husband needs to push on her diaphragm while recording her music to give her enough breath to hit the high notes. 

What an example of God using weakness to display his perfect power.

The world teaches us to hide weakness at all costs. Weakness is humiliating, something to be ashamed of, or so it seems. 

The Bible teaches differently. Paul even said that he delights in weakness! Not only can I not say that sincerely, I loathe my weaknesses at times. Pride and fear are partly to blame for this; I want to be self-sufficient and in control.

How do you see weakness? Maybe in someone else, it is okay, but what about in yourself?

We all have weaknesses. Perhaps it is a personality flaw, a physical disability, a dysfunctional family, an addiction, past trauma, relational difficulty, depression, or physical illness. However it manifests, weakness is something we try to conceal and deal with privately until we can make it go away.

As I have pondered this topic the last few weeks, I have wrestled significantly with my reality and the truth of God’s Word. They feel conflicted more than I would like, and I know the reason for this conflict lies in me.

I feel at times like I am imprisoned in my body. I long to do more, but my body holds me captive. I can easily become paralyzed in my weakness when I focus on it. How easily we gravitate into living by our flesh, it feels so natural. But to live by the flesh only brings death; by the Spirit we find life and peace (Romans 8:6).

Experiencing the fullness of God‘s power in weakness is not magic. Supernatural, yes, but it also takes a fully surrendered spirit and moment by moment reliance upon God. This takes great intentionality. This little poem reveals the beautiful freedom available to us no matter what weakness “imprisons” us.

A little bird I am,

Shut from the fields of air,

And in my cage I sit and sing

To Him who placed me there;

Well pleased a prisoner to be

Because, My God, it pleaseth Thee.

My cage confines me round,

Abroad I cannot fly,

But though my wing is closely bound,

My soul is at liberty; 

For prison walls cannot control

The flight, the freedom of the soul.

Madame Guyon

When our souls are settled in God, nothing can hinder us from experiencing His fullness. His grace covers all that is found wanting. With the Lord as our shepherd, we have all that we need.

The reason Paul delights in weakness is that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. Not that God’s power is lacking, but human weakness magnifies God’s power. God gets the glory, not man. God wants a dependence upon his Spirit within us. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). 

The Bible is full of examples in which God shows his power through human weakness. One of my favorites is found in Judges 7 where God dwindles Gideon’s army down to just about nothing. Gideon and his 32,000 men were outnumbered by four to one against the Midianites, but God wanted more impossible odds. So, first he tells Gideon to send home everyone who is afraid, and 22,000 hit the road. 10,000 is still too many, so God makes the next cut. Only those who lap water like a dog will stay, leaving only 300 men. Impossibly weak. Perfect. With the 300 men blowing trumpets, God puts the Midianites against each other, and God gets the glory.

Sometimes it feels like we are being whittled down to nothing. But this doesn’t indicate God’s absence. On the contrary, God just may be setting conditions for the perfection of his power to shine forth. Imagine what the world thinks when we are able to boast in our weakness? How different to humble ourselves instead of exalting in our strength. As John the Baptist said, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV).