We do not typically introduce ourselves to new people by listing out our weaknesses. “Hi, I’m Jessica, I’m not a great musician.” That is not how I introduce myself.
Instead, we focus on our strengths and talents. I introduce myself as a counselor, as my husband’s wife, or as fellow fill-in-the-blanker that matches the situation I am in.
Yet God calls us to look at ourselves differently. To embrace our weaknesses rather than hide them. Adam and Eve, when they first sinned in the garden, immediately went to cover themselves up. But God knew. God saw. He was not surprised by their nakedness or embarrassed by it. In fact, it was how He had created them.
Fast forward to the earliest stages of the Christian church. The apostle Paul repeatedly asks God to take away his greatest weaknesses, the thorn in his side that tormented him. Paul hated the thorn, but God had allowed it. And even in response to Paul’s prayers, God allows the thorn to continue. Why?
God allows the weaknesses because He wants us to rely on Him.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
We experience the same moments as Adam, Eve, and Paul. We recognize a weakness, it pains us, and we desperately want to hide it, we want it to go away.
Yet if God’s power is made perfect in weakness… who am I to think that avoiding my weakness is more worthwhile than God’s power being perfected in my life?
God gives us grace for the exact moment we are in, and it is sufficient. When the weakness is there, it’s okay because He is giving grace perfectly. If the weakness goes away, He is simply giving new grace for a new situation.
My Lord has not given me grace (yet) for my children heading off to college. They’re still in my womb. So instead, He is giving me grace for the uncomfortable sleepless nights, the swollen feet, and the messy house that I don’t have the energy to clean.
What is your weakness? God is there. He is giving perfect grace for this moment. Praise be to God.