When I was little and growing up in northern California, I would try to keep up with my brother and his friends. We lived on a missions base for a while, and there were so many things to explore. But I was little, and keeping up was hard.

In all of those adventures, I was never proud of being small or incapable. I remember being frustrated and sad. And today, as I’m embarking on this journey of worship leading, the story is very similar. My shortcomings feel similar to that same struggle of not being able to climb or run as fast as my big brother. It feels wrong. It feels like failing.

But the Word of God tells a different story. Twenty-four times, the Bible uses the word asthenia to explain weakness. It’s what Paul boasted in. It’s what Jesus took from a woman who had been broken down for eighteen years. It’s the weight that Jesus bore when He carried the Cross that was rightfully ours.

The word asthenia, in Greek, quite literally means “want of strength.” It is referring to a type of weakness that plagues our bodies, minds and souls. It is what keeps us from doing good things, and encourages us to keep doing what we hate. It is sickness and frailty. It is our natural condition.

So when this weakness is suddenly brought into the light and we are reminded that we aren’t as strong as we’d like to be, it hurts. We cheer for strength, not failure. But Paul had a different mentality, and it came directly from Jesus.

Paul was given a thorn in his flesh, a tormenter, to constantly remind him of his weaknesses. He prayed three times that the Lord would take it away. What was Jesus’ response? “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Um. Jesus is okay with us being weak? He doesn’t think we’re failing Him?

Paul’s response baffles me even more. “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

This, my friends, could change everything if we lived it out. Here are a few things I think we can gain from this passage in Scripture:

1. Sufficient means enough. We all know that, right? We might have sufficient funds in our bank accounts. The food in our pantries may be sufficient for all of our guests. Those are easy things to understand. But when we start thinking about failing or messing up or not having enough, do we really stop and say, “I have all that I need! I am okay! Jesus’ grace is enough for me.” I think we could benefit from putting that into practice. When you recount the moments that He let you fall, you might have a hard time remembering. Why? Because He’s got you. His grace is enough.
2. Boasting in our weaknesses really means boasting in His strength. They go hand in hand. We don’t boast in our weaknesses because Jesus gets some type of twisted satisfaction from hearing us be hard on ourselves. We are supposed to boast in our weaknesses because we are acknowledging that He is our strength. And here’s some of the best news: He is infinitely available to us. All of His grace, all of His strength. He just keeps giving and giving, and our weaknesses will never outgrow His strength. He is a never-ending stream of “don’t worry, I will help you.” We aren’t boasting about how bad we are. We are boasting about how good He is.
3. Our weaknesses don’t give Him power. Our weaknesses remind us of His power. When a light bulb goes out, we don’t just leave the light out. We find a new light bulb to replace the old. The same goes for our own areas of weakness. There is a power source to replace the emptiness, and His name is Jesus. He is already perfect and endlessly powerful. He doesn’t need us to make Him that way. But when we call upon His strength in light of our pain, His power is revealed to us.
4. When I am weak, then I am strong. Just like grace, this seems like such an unfair trade. Why would Jesus take our weaknesses and give us strength in return? Thats like handing someone a rotten banana in exchange for a five course meal. But that’s who Jesus is. Do you see an area of weakness in your life? Rejoice, because that is the perfect landing pad for strength. Call on Him in your weakness, and be confident that He is on the way.

Rejoice, dear friends. We have a kind and loving God, and He can shape our weaknesses into His glory.

In Him,

Rachel