Strength-Weakness Patterns and God's Ways of Grace

UV 1136/10,000 Strengths- Weakness Patterns and God’s Ways of Grace
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12 v 9

The Biblical views on strength and weakness is quite contrary to what modern management and leadership teaches. Modern management teaches us to rely on utilising “ six signature strengths every day” and to ignore the deficiencies or weaknesses. But this uni-verse teaches us to glory in our weaknesses and to be suspicious of our strengths. St Paul had many natural strengths-he was skilled in Greek dialectic, Jewish theology. Though Jew he was a Roman citizen. He was trained by one of the top Jewish teachers of the time – Gamaliel. He was zealous for the Jewish faith. He was a strong leader and a powerful writer. He had a supernatural vision and dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh, probably a painful ailment to remind him of his dependence on the grace of God. Our weaknesses are God’s memorandum to us, to make us conscious that of ourselves we are weak but in His grace we can do all things. Grace is meant for God’s glory, not ours. Today,we find many men of God have doctorates and other titles of honour while Jesus alone has no doctorate or title like them. Paul could have taken an exalted title like chief among the apostles to the Gentiles but he focussed on daily appropriating the strength of the Lord while being continually conscious of his severe intellectual, physical and spiritual limitations. God’s grace can take us the whole distance. We will never run out of steam as long as we depend on the Lord to enable us to do that which He has assigned to us. It does not mean that we keep our strengths idle or dormant or unutilised but that when we seek, depend and utilise God’s grace in every situation, whether favourable or adverse, the optimum of our strengths and weaknesses is put into play. We need not hate ourselves for our weaknesses. We need not hate or be shy of acknowledging our weaknesses but own them as part of us, the very gates through which God’s grace and power will be poured into our lives.

It is in our weakness and inadequacy that the power, strength and mercy of the Lord is manifested and exhibited. When we are self confident and rely on our inherent gifts and talents, the Lord will maintain a stand-off position. When we are strong, we are weak. We will wittingly or unwittingly be full of ourselves, our plans, our dreams, our talents, our ideas, our achievements. There would not be enough elbow room for God in our lives. But when we look to Him for help, for supernatural enablement, He will rush to our side. When we are weak and dependent on His grace, we are strong. Only when our ego goes, God can come. Paul therefore delighted in his weaknesses, reproaches, insults, persecutions, oppression, setbacks, reverses, distresses. We too need to recognize the huge opportunity we have in these otherwise adverse circumstances, for in such times God walks closest to us. When the going gets tough, the godly get to God.

When the favour of God rests on us, the power of Christ will be manifested. When the favour of God rested on Jesus after his baptism in the Jordan at the hands of John the Baptist, the power of the Holy Spirit descended and rested on Jesus. God declared, “ This is my own beloved Son, listen to Him.” Similarly, when we are weak, we tend to be more obedient and God will endorse us saying, “ This is my own beloved son or daughter- listen to him or her. What is meant by the power of Christ? It is the power to be victorious in all circumstances, even over death as He demonstrated in His resurrection.

Prateep V Philip