Day 27: Weak

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Ours is not a culture that is comfortable with weakness. This is true of many cultures around the world, of course, but as Americans, it’s kind of our brand. If you’re not sure if you agree, just pay attention this weekend to the ways we celebrate Independence Day. Strength is a big part of our national identity, and it has shaped us as individuals more than we sometimes realize.

To begin with, we are never quite sure how to respond to the weakness of others. When someone casually asks, “How are you?” as a kind of greeting, have you ever answered the question honestly? “Actually, I’m having a rough day, and my back hurts, and I yelled at my kids this morning.” Chances are this answer would be met with wide-eyed silence followed by a stuttered awkward apology and an excuse for a quick exit. Usually it’s better to stick with “Great, thanks. How are you?” 

Uncertainty and discomfort in the face of weaknesses and need is what causes us to look away and ignore the man on the street who’s asking for money, to silently judge the purchases of the woman in front of us in the grocery checkout line who is paying with food stamps, or, dare I say, find reasons to be angry with members of an oppressed people group seeking justice in a public demonstration. 

The deeper issue, though, is my discomfort with my own weaknesses, which often borders on denial that these weaknesses even exist. You know that question at every job interview when they ask about your weaknesses? We’ve all been coached to answer that in a way that turns even our weaknesses into strengths. “My weakness is that I work too hard and I don’t know when to stop and take a break.” I wonder if we haven’t gotten so good at selling that that we’ve bought into it ourselves. 

Sure, I have weaknesses – but they’re not so bad really and you could even look at them as strengths. This is not what Paul meant when he wrote about boasting in our weaknesses:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 Corinthians 12:8-10)

I come back to this passage over and over again. Words like boast gladly and delight are not words I would naturally use to describe my weaknesses. If I’m truly honest, I despise my weaknesses. They offend my pride and force me to acknowledge that I am not sufficient on my own. 

I love Jesus, but I don’t want to need him.

I would like to keep Jesus as an accessory rather than the main thing. I prefer to keep Jesus in a drawer and pull him out for the big stuff, like an illness or a natural disaster or something that I obviously can’t do anything about on my own. But for the everyday stuff, I would prefer to be self-sufficient, thank you very much. Doing it on my own – that’s what I can boast gladly over. I delight in my own abilities and stubborn determination. 

Then I get in over my head. I am not meant to pursue the life God has called me to on the strength of my own power and abilities, so every time I try I will find myself drowning. My pride needs to be put to death over and over and over again. Not only is his grace sufficient, but his power is made perfect in my weakness. In the upside-down Kingdom of God, I am strongest when I am able to accept just how weak I am, because it is then that he does his work in and through me. 

In a season of hardships and difficulties, it is time to stop resisting and avoiding them and learn to delight in them – for the joy of seeing what Christ will do.