Strength in Weakness

 May 4, 2021

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” —II Cor. 12:7-10 

These words from St. Paul launched our pastor’s prayer time this morning. As various individuals prayed, a subtle shift took place; from Paul’s words of weakness, the prayers took on the tone of victory and power, of the Church rising up to conquer the world for Christ. I sat and listened in amazement as we moved away from the plain reading of the text. 

In the ‘70s, Ray Stedman began teaching about what he called Body Life, and wrote a book by that title in which he outlined the importance of exercising one’s spiritual gifts when serving Christ. He almost singlehandedly launched a movement which has influenced countless ministries encouraging Christians to discover their spiritual gifts and to use them to serve. His seminal work spawned spiritual gift inventories and entire programs through which countless Christians have moved. The Church has benefited from much of this, but there have also been some drawbacks, in that while recognizing spiritual gifts, the Gospel never encourages us to minister out of our strengths, but as Paul says, from our weaknesses. 

As various individuals fervently prayed for revival this morning, I wondered if our emphasis on spiritual gifts has prevented the very results we crave. When we serve out of our strengths, though we acknowledge him, we don’t necessarily need the Holy Spirit. We build ministries, genuinely see people’s lives change, but I wonder if we are missing something in the process. When we emphasize spiritual giftedness, we tend to work out of our areas of strength—after all, that’s what the business world and al the self-help gurus tell us we must do. But when we work only our areas of strength, we shut out the person who is struggling, who needs to hear from someone who also struggles with life.

We are too often embarrassed and ashamed of our weaknesses; we hide them from others and even from ourselves. We hesitate to admit our failures, isolating ourselves in our little cocoons where no one can use our weaknesses against us. Sin thrives in such places, and for all our posturing, we know the truth—we are often a hair’s breadth from moral and spiritual collapse. 

What if instead of working from our strengths, we did as Paul did, acknowledging our weaknesses and working from them? Maybe we could give hope to the one struggling with life, And just maybe, God’s power might manifest itself, and the revival for which we long could at last come.