Weakness, Part 2

"Crying out reminds us of our dependence. Weeping leads us to reconnect with God. Our tears are sacred. They water the ground around our feet so that new things can grow."

-from Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell

"I hear the Savior say, 'Thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray, find in Me thine all in all.'" -from "Jesus Paid It All"

Times like this when we are weak are some of the best times of our lives. When I say "the best", I definitely don't mean the most enjoyable. Let's face it, times of weakness are tough. They can make us depressed, bitter and want to punch things.

It's interesting how in the Bible, they tell us to "rejoice" when bad things happen.

Rejoice? Like throw a party? That's weird.

Okay, maybe not that far. Times of trial though can be amazing times of spiritual breakthrough. Paul in his letter to the Roman church said this profound statement about suffering: "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (5:3b-5).

Hard times teach us things. Not as punishment, but definitely as discipline.

Maybe a hard time is a result of a particular sin in our lives that we've been consumed with and are avoiding.

When Paul was writing that verse I cited in the previous post, God was teaching him about a flaw of his called boasting. In that verse he described a specific "thorn in the flesh", though he never said what that thorn actually was. It was something that Paul frequently cried out to God for release from.

Do you have a thorn?

Constant back pain,

significant debt,

a physical illness that just won't go away,

a cloud of depression and sorrow over your head,

unemployment,

doubts about God,

insufficient funds,

car troubles,

no friends,

horrible "friends",

constant criticism,

no food,

parents who filed for divorce,

someone close to you passed away,

________________. <--------Fill in the blank

Maybe God is actually trying to teach you something.

Maybe God is actually trying to tell you, "I miss you."

So many times people say it's hard to cry out to God when bad things happen. You know what? I disagree. It's easy to cry out to God. It's easy to tell Him at the very least how mad we are at everything, how confused we are, how broken we are.

When I look back at old journal entries I wrote, some of my most beautiful prayers to God were during some really bad days.

Bad times cause us to be vulnerable. They show us that we are weak, that we can't do this life without the strong hand of God in it.

They humble us.

They show us that weakness is the best place to be.

Weakness is where we should always be.

So, Child of Weakness, as you can't walk.

As life hurts.

As you ache.

As you cry.

Remember you're in a very beautiful place,

The place where you were meant to be:

inside the Everlasting Arms of God.

And He will never, ever let you go.

Strength in Hardship

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” -Luke 22:31-32

This verse is sobering for a variety of different reasons. It was said by Jesus to Simon hours before he would deny even knowing Jesus. Take a walk with me through it.

“Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat” - Just like Satan wanted Simon, Satan wants us. He wants to “sift us like wheat”. He wants to wear us down, and not just with temptation and sin. He can also wear us down with busyness and a works-based mentality. A sobering quote that I heard once is, “If the devil can’t kill you, he’ll make you busy.” Satan wants to do anything he can to distract us from God, His plan for us, and to prevent us from sacrificing everything for Jesus.

Things get hard as a Christian, which is not really shared much in the mainstream American Christianity today. People say that God delivered us from harm (which He did), but that harm is of everlasting punishment and damnation. That harm is not always something like physical healing or deliverance from a specific addiction. It can be, but it not always is. Christianity is HARD. There is PAIN in walking with Jesus because there is an internal battle with sin that we war against. There can also be persecution from others. People can lose friendships and even lose ties with family through being Christians.

“but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” - What a wonderful thing to meditate on: Jesus prayed for Simon! Do you think that Jesus is praying for us too? I know He’s God, but He prays to His Father and is currently, as I’m typing this, interceding for me and every other Christian on this planet as they struggle through sin to get to Him.

“And when you have turned again” - I find such hope in that phrase! Jesus didn’t say “if”, but “when”! He knew Simon would turn back to Him after this brief time of failure and folly. He knew because He is God and He always knows the future, but He also knew because He is God and absolutely none of His plans can be thwarted! (Job 42:2)

“strengthen your brothers” - Jesus already gave Simon a job, even when He knew Simon was going to fail miserably. That’s like a manager telling an unfaithful employee, “Hey, I know you’re not going to show up for work tomorrow, but when you return the next day, I would like you to lead a training session for your co-workers.” I’m not saying you should skip work tomorrow, but isn’t that cool? Jesus knew what pain Satan was going to put Simon through, knew he was going to come back, and then gave Him a job as Peter, THE ROCK!

Are you going through a season where it is just REALLY HARD to follow Christ? The worship songs all sound the same, the pastor’s sermons sound the same, the Bible devotions sound the same, you space out in your prayer times, and you stumble over sinful thoughts and actions. Remember this promise: If you are in Christ, God will never, ever, under any circumstance let go of you (Rom. 8:38-39).