Weakness is a state that we tend to try to avoid. The world around us tells us to fight weakness, reject weakness, and never utter its name. However, no matter how hard we strive and fight against it, if we are honest with ourselves, we know we cannot escape it. Rather than escape weakness like the world tells us we should do, the Bible tells us to embrace it, even boast in it! What does that mean? And how does that work when we feel weak in our efforts in our work with teen girls?
In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul is intentionally made weak by the Lord. The Lord reveals to Paul something better than having an absence of weakness— being content, boasting in and embracing weakness. Why? The Lord tells Paul and us there is great privilege in experiencing the power of God through our weakness (2 Cor. 12:1-10).
The Gospel of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection transforms the meaning of weakness and the meaning of strength. Weakness though the lens of the gospel is not cowardly or passive, but trusting in God’s power and therefore being free from a performance driven mindset. Strength in light of the gospel is not exhaustively mustered, but ever flowing from a never ending source.Think about a time when you just felt weak, tired, insufficient, or unqualified. Maybe you are in a season of feeling that way right now with so much of our sense of control and routine taken from us. In this position, what if we shifted our perspective from a worldly view of weakness to a biblical one. What if we saw this as where the Lord wants us to be so we would take our eyes off of ourselves, our work, our responsibility and would instead lean in and look to Him. He is our strength when we are weak (which is most of the time if we are willing to admit it). Our feelings of neediness allow us to experience Him fill our needs.The reality and acknowledgement of our own weakness and the weakness of the world is a healthy challenge to our false hopes and instead aims to keep us focused on our only true hope: God’s redemption. A redemption that can be tasted now, but will one day be fully known. There is great joy in remembering that there will be no weakness or fleeting false hopes in our own strength in heaven!It is a honor to be a weak, broken vessel. We are tools that God uses to shine His goodness and glory through (2 Cor. 4:7-9). It is also a blessing and freedom that a broken vessel, not a perfect vessel, is all we are called to be.Join me in prayer today to see our weakness, feel our need, embrace our lacking, and then be lead to look to the Lord to fill us. Let us pray our lives would be an overflow of Him instead of our own false view of power. In that, also praying we would point our girls and those around us towards the Lord and dependence on Him through our boasting in weakness.
Amalee Bingham currently lives in central Texas with her husband, Marshall, who is in the military. She is ever thankful to the Lord for those who have come alongside her to share not only the gospel, but their lives as well. In whatever context the military takes her, she desires to do the same for those around her. Amalee also enjoys writing, studying the bible, baking, and loving on her chocolate lab pup! Connect with Amalee: Instagram