IN FOLLOWING
When someone decides to follow Jesus, they may be overwhelmed by the road ahead. On the one hand, we love Jesus, we are grateful for his sacrifice on our behalf, we value his teaching and his example of serving God and others; but how can a sinner like me live up to such high standards? It appears overwhelming.
Let me share a secret that will enable each of us to live the Christian life; the secret of how to be a strong Christian. The good news is that this secret ingredient is something we all already possess. I have it in abundance! The secret of spiritual strength is… human weakness.
I once read that the Bible has a theology of weakness. Several persons in scripture are examples of this.
Take Samson, one of the Old Testament judges (Judges 13-16). He was the original superhero, and his secret power was his biceps. He could fight off a thousand men or escape from a gated city just by hoisting the gates. Samson was strong, but that was not what made him successful. After he was captured and imprisoned with his eyes gouged out and his hair cut-off he became a weakling. It was then, when his superpower had failed him, that God gave him the victory. While being paraded before a crowd who mocked him, Samson prayed, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please God, strengthen me just once more…” (Judges 16:28), and God answered that prayer. When Samson was weak, God gave him the strength to crush his enemies—literally!
From Samson we learn two things: First, human weakness is the condition where God can use us the most. Contrary to the common saying that ‘God helps them who help themselves’, the truth is that God helps the weak and helpless! Second, we learn that when we need strength, we should pray.
Another example of weakness is the Apostle Paul. He had many accomplishments, including visions of heaven; preaching the gospel and starting churches across the Roman empire; and being inspired by God’s Spirit to write scripture. Paul had a lot to brag about, but he did not boast about his accomplishments.
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 12:9-10).
Paul described one of his weaknesses as a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). We don’t know what this “thorn” was, perhaps some kind of illness or disability. Many Christians today face chronic conditions which they consider a weakness in serving Christ. I don’t want to belittle such infirmities, but I think we can learn from Paul’s struggle with his “thorn.”
First, Paul says his “thorn” was both a messenger of Satan and a gift of God. Satan uses troubles to distract believers, but God uses these same sufferings for his own purposes. Paul said that God’s purpose in giving him this thorn in the flesh was to keep him from becoming arrogant about his visions of heaven. God was teaching him humility.
Another thing we learn from Paul’s thorn: there is a time to pray and a time to stop praying. It is good to pray for God to deliver us from troubles: Paul prayed for deliverance three times. But when God gave him a negative answer, he stopped praying. Many times, we won’t know God’s will about a particular sickness or difficulty— so usually the correct thing to do is to continue praying. But Paul’s situation was different: once God’s will became clear, there was no point in continuing to pray. To stop praying was not a lack of faith, it was an act of faith! Once Paul knew God’s will, he simply accepted it—even if it meant that the thorn would not go away.
The most important thing we learn from Paul’s thorn is that it became a channel for God’s grace. How does a thorn in the flesh channel grace? By creating weakness. In order to be strong with God’s power, we need to be weak in human power. I have one more example of weakness: Christ. Maybe it sounds heretical to say that Jesus was weak, but of the 24 uses of the word “weak” in the New Testament, three refer to Jesus. He shared our normal human weaknesses, our frailty, our needs. But for Jesus, weakness was not just his condition, it was his strategy. He deliberately chose the path of humility, of poverty, of emptiness, of service, of suffering, of sacrifice, and the path of the cross. But in God’s time, the weakness of Christ was transformed by the power of the resurrection (Philippians 2:5-11). His weakness and waiting on God’s time was how he brought about our salvation. This is also God’s pattern for the Christian life: humility and weakness precede exaltation. Jesus and Paul have given us the pattern. Like Paul, we should boast about our weakness. When Paul prayed for deliverance from his weakness, God’s response was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Like Jesus, weakness is a strategy for doing God’s will in God’s way. Our weaknesses are the secret ingredient for following Jesus.
Greg Giles is a published author, who, along with his wife Jean, has embraced the call to serve and teach around the globe. Their life together has included missionary work in Liberia, Bangladesh, teaching in China, and raising a family in Bemidji, Minnesota. Between global travels and local commitments, including serving as superintendent of Corn Bible Academy and their current part-time roles at Corn Heritage Village, the Gileses have found “home” in many places; yet, they now happily reside in retirement in Cordell. Please visit his website at reflections-on-wisdom.com.