Day 35: God's Power in Your Weakness

So before I went to bed last night, I was trying to deal with the whole "murder" thing. Where else would I look but to the first murder in human history, the story of Cain and Abel. My LASB gave some insight: "This is the first murder- taking a life by shedding human blood. Blood represents life (Leviticus). If blood is removed from a living creature, it will die. Because God created life, only God should take life away. Cain was severely punished for this murder. God judges all sins and punishes appropriately, not out of vengeance, but because he desires to correct us and restore our fellowship with him. When you're corrected, don't resent it. Instead, renew your fellowship with God."

So today I challenge you to pray not only for the family, but also for the killer. It is not our place nor God's will to seek vengenance; pray that through this tragedy God can reach out to him/her/them and that His will is furthered in their lives.

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Another challenging yet encouraging chapter, all about the one thing we don't want to talk about: our weaknesses. Physical, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual, none of us really like to talk about our flaws. "Hey, look! I can't do this at all, and this part of my life is really messed up! Wanna see?"

Now, I realize that statement is a little facetious, but the truth of the matter is that talking about what we can't do is not generally appealing. But God doesn't want us to hide our weaknesses. Think about it: if God is doing great things through "great" people, how much more impressive is it when God does great things through weak people?

So what can we do to be used by God ("because after all, if God only used perfect people, nothing would get done")? First, we must admit our weaknesses. We can't be honest with other people if we aren't honest about ourselves. And remember back to the list of people in the Bible who weren't perfect in a previous entry. We know and can admit that God is all-powerful, but why can't we admit that we are only human? What a freeing confession!

Second, we have to be content with our weakness. After all, being weak just makes us even more aware and dependent on God for strength. They keep us from becoming egotistical (hopefully. . .), and encourage relations (think about it; do you generally gravitate towards people that are arrogant and "perfect" or do you find yourself wanting to find support with people who have been through what you have and can help you out?). It also means we shouldn't be jealous of people who are strong in areas we are not.

We must also honestly share our weaknesses. Vulnerability. . . it's always scary to take that first step. In the dichotomy of people, there are some that can start things very easily but have a hard time finishing, and then there are people who are reluctant to start a project, but once they finally start it, they will complete it fully. I am definitely the latter. I know that once I get out of bed in the morning, my morning routine will set in and I'll be good to go. . . but it's getting out of bed that's the problem. I know I have to schedule time or send an e-mail that will start a chain of events. . . such a simple task, but I wait until I'm "good and ready." One trick I do is to do something immediately after I think of it so I don't have a chance to back down. Why am I rambling about this? Well, my point is that it is hard for me to open up. Because I know that once I start spilling my guts, it'll start a snowball affect.

Am I ready for that? Shouldn't I be? Don't I need major change in my life? What am I so afraid of?

Lastly, we glory in our weaknesses. We are "trophies of grace," and we should act as such. It's not about us and our abilities; it is about what God is able to do through us in spite of how we are! Our weaknesses make us realize what a wonderful God we serve; we should be so thankful to know that we cannot do it alone.

Point to Ponder: God works best when I admit my weakness.
He doesn't just use our strengths; if that were the case, He wouldn't bother giving us weaknesses, and the world would be perfect!

Verse to Remember: 2 Corinthians 12:9a- "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness." New International Version
Such a great verse to tuck away for a rainy day.

Question to Consider: Am I limiting God's power in my life by trying to hide my weaknesses? What do I need to be honest about in order to help others?
Yeah, probably. No one wants to look an ignorant fool (and being 21 and in a "new" environment (though with each day I feel better and more settled), that is inevitable in my life right now), but is that keeping me from reaching out to people? I don't know that I've really thought about it for today. . .