Your Weakness is Your Testimony
This week I pulled out an old album from my youth. I was ready for something different, maybe stirring up some old emotions of following Christ. The songs were like slipping into a comfortable bed allowing my mind to rest. The lyrics flooded back with ease as I sang along.
Then it happened. The song came on that had the line that dove deep into my heart so many years ago. It challenged me. It encouraged me. It help set direction into my life.
“It took me far to long to find out that my weakness is my testimony.”
God Shows Up in the Lyrics
Do you ever have those times when you are listening to music, then without warning, God shows up? You feel the chills up your arms. Something happens. You can keep pressing on, or you can rewind the tape and find out what’s happening. This lyric did this to me over 20 years ago… and again earlier this week.
Paul says that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). He intends to lead us to our weakness, so He will be revealed as strong in us. I don’t need to be strong and have all the answers. I need to embrace who I am and trust God in where He leads.
Our Struggles With Weakness
In Christian circles we are scared of our weaknesses. If we admit to a weakness, we feel it brings doubt to God’s work in our lives. We feel we can’t miss a quiet time, can’t feel bad, can’t lose hope, and definitely can’t mess up.
We don’t use the tools God has given us. We hear others struggling and we encourage them to have more faith. If they are in sin, we tell them to stop it. Weakness is not celebrated, it is hidden.
The Consequence of Hiding Our Weaknesses
The problem is if we can’t share with one another our weaknesses, then we will not believe God has truly forgiven us. We will not walk out in boldness, because we fear our weaknesses will get exposed. We limit what God will do in our lives because we will not stretch beyond what we feel are our strengths. We never step into God’s strength being made perfect.
We no longer live as true Christians; we are just good people. That doesn’t inspire hope; it leads to striving, pretending, and burnout. Worse yet, hiding our weakness sets us up for a bigger failure in the future. Our problems don’t go away because we try harder to ignore them.
My Testimony with Weakness
I started to walk out this truth so many years ago until my fears became greater than my belief. I stopped believing God would come through for me and that I needed to protect myself. I spent years locked in this fear and created a religious life to protect me.
God in His graciousness broke through my walls of fear. He showed me freedom was bringing things in the light so that He could dispel the darkness. My testimony is that I am wonderfully made and as I share all that is in me I will get to know that full well (Psalm 139:14).
As I hide my weaknesses, I will feel that somehow I am flawed and fear those flaws will eventually get exposed. The best way to live in freedom is to find people who can listen to me open up about my weakness and remind me only of God’s goodness. They would believe the Holy Spirit enough to trust Him to do the work He wants to do in my life to convict without condemnation.
Do Not Fear Your Weakness
This is what I want to convey with this blog. I feel that our prayer will be effective once we see God as who He really is, and we see ourselves as God sees us. He has no hatred for anything in you. You are not your sin. He created you with purpose and significance. He intends on helping you achieve all that He has planned for your live.
When we remove this fear, we can freely be who God made us. We can freely communicate with Him and freely be ourselves with others. When we are this free, God can work miracles through our lives. Allow your weakness to be your testimony and watch God be strong on your behalf.
- If you are interested in finding out more about my testimony, I share it in my book, Breaking Free, which you can buy on Amazon.
