We are never asked to live from a negative. We are always hugely encouraged to trust, be in faith, and believe. God believes the best about us even though we are constantly in transition. We are in Christ, learning to be Christ like. We are being changed from one degree of glory to another. We are totally loved in that process, even if we are struggling to become more of who we are in Christ.
We are not asked to live from a place of weakness. We are encouraged to discover God strength to us. The Grace of God is so compelling powerful towards us; it actually overrules every negative perspective.
The world is focused on weakness as the key place to begin the process of change. The kingdom focuses on strength as the major key to transformation. That power is perfected in weakness means that strength flows into what we are not. The result of God’s life erupting within is that we boast about our weakness in the context of the amazing power of Christ within. 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10.
We take pleasure in our weaknesses; were not downhearted about them. The reason is – the father. His love is so incredible, so astonishing, it reaches out to us in our sinfulness and pulls us into his embrace. From that place we discover that we are the beloved of God. It is our privilege to go through life, fully loved. This is fabulous news. All Our change procedures come through being loved incredibly.
It is important to love change in the process of learning. If we do all our changes in the love of God, we are always excited about who God is for us and who we are becoming in him. He chose us in our weakness and loves to meet those needs with his strength. He strengthens us with his presence in our low places. He does not give us strength; he becomes our strength.
My weakness is the low place where God steps into my inadequacy. he inhabits that place with his own courage, firmness, and power. If he were to leave that space in my life, I would still be weak. The increase, the upgrade, that I receive in that area is not because he has given me something to fill that gap in my life. He is my increase in himself.
Relationally, he inhabits my weaknesses, and I learn the pleasure of his presence. I can boast about my shortcomings because in Christ I’m learning how to turn an inadequacy into a joyful vulnerability.
I’m constantly being put into situations where people need counsel, advice, and general wisdom. The grace upon my life has empowered me to experience the father in a significant way in this area. I do not listen to the question; I listen to the Lord. I hear the question, but I do not have to process it. I open my heart to the Lord, and I say what he says. In my weakness I can boast in who God is for me, to me, and in me.
Is a wonderful culture of dependency to which the father wishes to commit us, that empowers us to be as brilliant in him in all of our low places. What a great life he has given us! His presence is our increase. We get to abide in him. He fills the space that I cannot fill. Everything that is meant to Rob or disempower me instead becomes my place of praise, rejoicing, and laughter. Insults can be fun. Distress is downgraded by rest and peace. In persecutions we get to overcome and take ground. In difficulties we learn faithfulness, patience, and stamina which are all the qualities we need to become more than conquerors.
Our dependency upon him must be total. When we are weak, we are also at a higher point of strength – in him. Christ in us gives us an expectation of something brilliant occurring.
God calls me in my weakness, then calls himself to meet my needs in those places. My weakness is his calling on my life. Weakness and strength form an amazing paradox that we are to enjoy, not endure. A paradox is to seemingly opposed ideas contained in the same truth. We have to die to live, give to receive, be last in order to be first. The church is both a building and a body. The first is rigid, inflexible, and unmovable. The second is fluid, flexible, and constantly changing. We need both sides of a paradox at work in us. It is not a question of either/or but a both/and. The issue in a paradox is what takes precedence at any one time, and that is determined by the presence of God – not circumstances. In the paradox of Mary and Martha, Jesus made his will clear. You will not always have me like this, so you need to choose me now! One thing that is necessary is always chosen by God. We are learning therefore to listen and obey.
Paul’s personal weakness paradox can be seen in his overlying attitude towards himself and God. On one hand he can state, I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling – 1 Corinthians 2:3. And he can also write, I can do all things in Christ through him who strengthens me – Philippians 4:13.
Ephesians 3:8Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
This is a wonderful paradox. I am the very least of all saints, Ephesians 3, 8 and yet, I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles – 2 Corinthians 11:5. He never forgot that he persecuted the church and held the coats of those who stoned Stephan. Yet he had the greatest understanding of grace and weakness. His ability to rest in Christ’s strength was what opened him up to receive mysteries and learn things that were hidden. He was never stressed in his weakness because his focus was on enjoying who God was for him. We make a difference through our rest and peace in who Jesus is for us in the course of life.
We are to be strengthen with power in the inner man through his Spirit so that we can comprehend and know the amazing fullness of the love of God – Ephesians 3:16 – 20. The father seeks to commit us to an experience of his glory. In every encounter he becomes a Revelation to our inner nature. He exposes us to his goodness, power, and wisdom. We are to become familiar with how his mind and heart function with us relationally. His goal is our direct participation with the fullness of heaven. We are to be a people who live above circumstances. We are not earthbound but have a perspective from heaven that overwhelms and overcomes everything against us, including our own insecurity and inadequacy.
He commits us to a journey of exploration and discovery into the passion of his love for us. It covers every square inch in every direction of our lives. It overwhelms all that we know, perceive, and understand so that we are immersed in the power and beauty of his compelling love. He fills all things with himself. Abundance is a requirement. He wants a people who can live with the pressure of fullness – whom he can trust with everything.
Enjoying your weakness in the context of his abundance provides unnecessary humility that sustains us under attack. We are exalted in our humility and are lifted up above the heads of our enemy. Our weaknesses is where we encounter abundance. Our worship increases when we are partakers of his presence in our low places. He steps into all that we are not with all that he is, and we are saved.
Assignment – what are the low places of your life where you have not experienced breakthrough of his presence for you? What would it look like for the Lord to fill you with himself? What would it look like for you to be strengthen with power through his spirit in the inner man?
Commission – how can your weaknesses be perfected – matured – by God’s power? What is the place of dependence and reliance to which you must come in order to enjoy this lifestyle? What must you undo in your thinking and behavior regarding independence and self help in order to humbly and joyfully turn your inadequacy into a joyful vulnerability? We can only enjoy our weaknesses if God enjoys our weaknesses. What does that mean to you? Think hard and happily and expand your – Journal your -answers.