You Are Strong in Jesus
Do you wish you were more perfect? Are you tired of asking for help? Rest assured, there is no need to be ashamed of weakness. Mary DeMuth exposes ten lies and shares ten truths in her latest book Stop Living Small: Ten Truths Toward Your Significant Life. This post will tackle the fourth lie “You should be ashamed of weakness” by reminding you that God functions best through your weakness. You are strong in Jesus. And beautiful.
Mary writes, “It’s okay to be needy. God does not deride your neediness, and neither should you. Shake hands with it. Welcome it if you can. Because that place of terrible need is the launchpad of a beautiful life.”
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:9-10, NLT)
You are strong in Jesus
Weaknesses are no fun for sure. We’d like to not bother others with our needs or we’re ashamed of not being perfect, right? But maybe our weaknesses make us more approachable, human, real.
Or, with the words of Mary, “Maybe the reason trials topple on me (and you) is so we will have dependency instead of self-sufficiency. So that we’ll need Jesus.” I think Mary hits the nail on the head here. Needing Jesus is the essence of faith. My friend, you are strong in Jesus.
One of the most important faith lessons to learn is to surrender our egos, our needs, and our wants to Jesus. Just as self-righteousness is ugly, so is self-sufficiency. We need to say goodbye to self-sufficiency and hello to dependence on God. When we do that we are indeed strong in Jesus no matter how weak or needy we are.
And I love how much energy you save by admitting you need God instead of keepin on trying to rely on your weak resources. When I start my days by surrendering to God, I don’t waste time by trying to hide my weaknesses or faking to be something I am not. Or feeling ashamed of something that should be celebrated. Just like Paul, we should take pleasure in our weaknesses.
Yes, I know, learning this is a lifelong process, but thankfully God is with us all the way and it does get easier the more we practice daily surrender. That way God can use us for his glory. I don’t say it’s easy. But, the more vulnerable we dare to be, the more blessed we become. And that’s priceless.
Let us pray
Dear God,
We come to you as we are and we are thankful we can do that.
Thanks for loving us and welcoming us with open arms.
We give to you our weaknesses, our neediness, our messes, our disappointments, our crazy life, ourselves.
Use us for your glory, Lord.
Be our joy, our strength, our everything.
Help us to celebrate our weaknesses and see impossibilities as your opportunities to intervene in our lives.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
P.S.
Isn’t it amazing how differently God sees us and our weaknesses? How awesome that God does not despise us for any reason, we are loved beyond measure. Instead, we are welcome to him as we are: needy, weak, messed up. And he gives us grace upon grace, his peace, his strength, his everything. Aren’t we blessed? Praying for you, my friend, to open up to receive all that God has for you. Remember, you are strong in Jesus!