Encouragement for Today - Mar. 21, 2008
March 21, 2008
Finding Power in Weakness
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
Devotion:
This weekend as we celebrate Easter, let’s draw near to Jesus, the One who saw our desperate need for His grace and responded with compassion and kindness. When facing the pain, agony, shame, and horror of the cross he couldn’t walk away – because He saw YOU. As Max Lucado says in his book The Final Week of Jesus, He saw us “right there in a middle of a world which isn’t fair … He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw you with a body, which gets sick and a heart that grows weak. He saw you in your own Garden of Gethsemane – and he didn’t want you to be alone…He would rather go to hell for you than to heaven without you.”
What an amazing act of kindness, and what an incredible example to follow of what we should do when we feel vulnerable and weak. Many of us say we have nothing to give when dark and lonely times come our way, but Jesus taught us to look past loneliness into the richness of helping others.
We say we having nothing to give, and God says, “You’re right, but I have something to give through you.” Remember the encouragement given to us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Maybe that is why the world hates weakness so much. If it is in our weakness that the power of God can flow most freely, then it’s no wonder the world would want to cork up this power’s flow. Everything about our society screams out against being weak, yet weakness resides in us all. No matter how beautiful, rich, powerful, and significant someone may seem, weakness is still there.
Behind the thin bodies and glamorous clothing of the rich and famous, weakness is there. Weakness knows no bounds. At every level of society, in every race, men and women alike have weaknesses. And be assured that along with weakness, loneliness calls their names. Sorrows and insecurities still haunt them. All the while God gently calls them to let Him make their weaknesses and loneliness count for something good. Many choose not to listen.
To walk the path that the Lord delights in, we must be willing to let God use the circumstances of our lives to reach out to others. Let’s compare our hurts to stones littering our paths. We have a choice to do one of three things with these stones. We can use them to beat ourselves up, making our scars run deeper than they should. We can throw our stones at others, wounding them and making them also feel our pain. Or, we can use these stones to build bridges for others to walk across from their own darkness and pain into His healing light. This third option is seldom chosen, yet it’s exactly what God delights in.
Dear Lord, help me take an honest assessment of my weaknesses and places where I feel vulnerable right now. Show me Lord, who I could touch today so Your power could flow through my weakness. Help me to not be so self-consumed with my troubles but rather be a bridge to help another person find Your power. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Visit Lysa TerKeurst’s blog
Who Holds the Key To Your Heart by Lysa TerKeurst
Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young
Application Steps:
Who is in your sphere of influence today that might need a touch of some sort from you? Ask Jesus to give you the wisdom and words to know how to reach this person.
Reflections:
Have I been paralyzed by some type of weakness in my life?
Is it possible for Jesus to use this for good?
During this Easter season, people are usually more receptive to Jesus and to visiting a church. Who could you invite to go with you this weekend?
Power Verses:
Jeremiah 9:23-24, “This is what the Lord says: Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.” (NIV)
© 2008 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
