Strong in Weakness

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 186, Strong in Weakness.

Hear this. Let it land where it needs to land:

"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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Second Corinthians, chapter twelve, verse nine.

Paul was in pain. He had something — some affliction, some thorn — that would not leave. And he brought it to God. Not once. Three times. And I want you to hear that not as a failure, but as faith. That is what faith looks like when it is honest. That is someone who believes God can do anything, and who keeps asking, and who is still waiting for an answer.

The answer came. But it was not the answer Paul was asking for. It was not healing. It was not removal. It was something deeper, something wider, something that would outlast any moment of relief. God said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you."

Not will be. Not someday, when you've gotten stronger. Is. Right now. Exactly as you are — with everything you're carrying, with everything you've been trying to hide — Christ's grace is sufficient. It does not wait for you to be ready. It is already here.

And then comes the line that turns everything upside down: "My power is made perfect in weakness." Not in spite of weakness. Not when weakness finally ends. Through it. It is precisely where your strength runs out that His strength becomes most visible. Your limit is His doorway.

Paul understood this — and when he understood it, he did not merely tolerate his weakness. He boasted in it. That sounds strange. It might even sound wrong. But think about the Cross. Christ hanging there, seemingly defeated, seemingly powerless — and that was the single greatest act of power the world has ever seen. The Resurrection comes out of the Cross. Victory is born in that place. The power of God clothed itself in weakness and changed everything.

So Paul says: "So that the power of Christ may rest upon me." The picture he draws is of a tent coming down to cover you. A presence that moves in and stays. A shelter that does not leave. But that covering cannot settle where someone is still performing strength they do not have. It rests where there is honesty. Where someone stops, opens their hands, and says: I cannot do this on my own.

That is where He enters.

So today, my friend, I am asking one thing of you. One thing. Before breakfast, before the noise of the day takes over, find a quiet moment — your bedroom, your car, your kitchen before anyone else is up — and name out loud one weakness you have been carrying alone. Not to yourself. To God. Say to Him: "Here it is. Here is my weakness. Let your power rest on me today." Say it like you mean it — because you do. That is not giving up. That is not defeat. That is making room for Him to move. That is the most courageous thing you can do this morning.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.