The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 23 January 2015 “Acknowledging our weakness takes strength”

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 23 January 2015 “Acknowledging our weakness takes strength”
Daily Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:8 My friends, I want you to know what a hard time we had in Asia. Our sufferings were so horrible and so unbearable that death seemed certain. 9 In fact, we felt sure that we were going to die. But this made us stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting God, who raises the dead to life.
2 Corinthians 12:7 Of course, I am now referring to the wonderful things I saw. One of Satan’s angels was sent to make me suffer terribly, so that I would not feel too proud.[a]
8 Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away. 9 But he replied, “My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am. 10 Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong.[Footnotes:
12.7 Of course. . . too proud: Or “Because of the wonderful things that I saw, one of Satan’s angels was sent to make me suffer terribly, so that I would not feel too proud.”]
Reflection Questions:
It was the Christians in Corinth to whom Paul wrote that God “won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Almost as though to show how that differed from “God won’t give you more than you can handle,” Paul wrote to those same Christians that he faced a load of suffering “so far beyond our strength” he thought he might die. With gripping honesty, he shared the process by which he learned to accept his own weakness, rather than demanding that he must always be strong.
• Paul didn’t hide even his overwhelming struggles. His honesty sprang from a principle he wrote about in his first Corinthian letter: “the weakness of God is stronger than human strength … God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians1:25-27). Can you be honest and vulnerable about your struggles, or do you feel ashamed and try to hide them? Who do you know who helps you recognize the strength in honestly facing weakness?
• So where’s the strength in weakness? The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery noted, “Paul nowhere condones weakness of character … Christ has partaken of human weakness but without sin, and his perfect ministry is not without a loving discipline that calls out to ‘strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees’ (Heb 12:12) … Weakness in this case images an opportunity for faith, not for self-pity and a victim mentality.” In what ways are you allowing God’s power to be “made perfect in weakness” in you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’m not as invulnerable and indestructible as I sometimes imagine I am. What a gift it is to know that, even when I am weak, your grace is with me, and your power can work through the weakness I wish I didn’t have. Amen.

Insight from Phil Antilla

Phil Antilla serves as the program director for Young Adult and College Ministry. Before coming to Church of the Resurrection, Phil served as an associate pastor at a local church in Shawnee. www.cor.org/youngadults

In the British version of “The Office” there is a great bit featuring a guy named Keith, a rather dull accountant. After being asked to fill out a self-evaluation form, under “Strengths”, he writes “Accounts” (his job title) and under “Weaknesses”, he writes “Eczema” (dry skin).

Is this what it means to be honest about our weaknesses? To admit that we have dry skin? That we can’t cook? Or that we always snooze through our morning alarm clock?

I think the Apostle Paul had something else in mind when he said “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”

The idea that we are strong in weakness is a revolutionary one. But its basis is not in human strength, or ability, but in the power of God, who lives through us, despite any of our weaknesses.

Think about it. No weakness of yours can keep Christ from dwelling in you.

I repeat–no human weakness can keep the power of Christ from dwelling in you.

That you sometimes lose your patience, or that you can’t stay focused, or that you fall asleep during your prayers, is no stumbling block for the power of Christ.

In Galatians 2, Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Did you catch that? Paul recognizes that he does in fact live this life “in the flesh”–he is weak, he will stumble, he will fail. But, this life that he lives, even in the flesh, is a life lived by faith in the Son of God–the One who will prevail!

So though you may be weak, though you may lack focus or discipline, all weaknesses are an opportunity to place your faith not in human power, but in the power of God. God does not come to dwell in us when we are finally perfect and strong, but lives and reigns with us now, just as we are.

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