9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
When we boast in our own strength, then there is no place for Christ’s power. If we want His power, we must exist in weakness, for He will not compete with our power. He will allow us to walk around in our own strength. He won’t violate our will. But if we want His power to be manifested in our lives, we must live in weakness. We must admit to ourselves and to the Lord that we can’t do it. This can be very hard for most of us Westerners. We are a culture of self-reliant people. We want to think of ourselves as “self-made” men and women. We boast about our accomplishments. We wear our success with the things that we own. Our houses and expensive toys telegraph our success. And yet, the Lord says that we must live in weakness if we want His power. This is primarily an inward attitude. It can be hard to tell from the outside. Someone with great outward wealth might be very aware of their weakness before the Lord. They might be giving tremendously, and we might not be able to tell from the outward appearance. It could be what we perceive as strength is really the Lord working through them. Don’t be quick to judge someone else. We are responsible for our own attitude. Are we relying on our own strength instead of on the Lord’s strength? Take time today to consider your weaknesses. Bring those weaknesses before the Lord and offer thanks. See your areas of weakness as blessings. He is working in those very weaknesses to make Himself strong in you.
The Arnold Journey 