God Can Use My Weaknesses for Good

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 I read, “I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” (TLB)

God can use all things for good, even my weaknesses. Here are four ways he uses my weaknesses for good.

My weaknesses prevent arrogance. When I realize I’m not perfect, that I don’t have it all together, I will become a much humbler person. And being humble makes me more like Jesus Christ.

God did some great things in and through the apostle Paul. But Paul had something in his life that kept him from becoming arrogant. He called it a “thorn in the flesh” and asked God to take it away: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you’” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NIV). God’s grace will always be enough for me as well.

My weaknesses help me value others. It’s okay if I don’t have all the gifts, talents, or answers. That just makes me appreciative of and dependent on the people in my life and their gifts and talents. We need each other. My weaknesses may be the way I learn to live within a biblical community. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:22, “Some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary” (NLT).

My weaknesses make me more dependent on God. A different translation of 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people” (TLB). If I had no weaknesses, I wouldn’t think I needed God. I’d spend my life being self-sufficient, and that’s no way to live. Paul says, “Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power . . . for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 TLB).

My weaknesses give me a ministry. God doesn’t want to use only my strengths in ministry. He also wants to use my weaknesses. God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:4 NIV). After God helps me go through a problem or learn to live with a weakness, I can then help somebody else with the same difficulty.

That’s the kind of God I serve. He weaves even the bad stuff in my life to make good. God will use my weakness to make me more like Jesus as I depend on him and the family of believers.

In summary, God is with me and that is all I need. His power shows up best in my weakness. God can use all things for good, even my weaknesses. Here are four ways he uses my weaknesses for good. My weaknesses prevent arrogance. When I realize I’m not perfect, that I don’t have it all together, I will become a much humbler. Being humble makes me more like Jesus Christ. My weaknesses help me value others. It’s okay if I don’t have all the gifts, talents, or answers. That just makes me appreciative of and dependent on the people in my life and their gifts and talents. We need each other. My weaknesses may be the way I learn to live within a biblical community. My weaknesses make me more dependent on God. If I had no weaknesses, I wouldn’t think I needed God. I’d spend my life being self-sufficient, and that’s no way to live. My weaknesses give me a ministry. God doesn’t want to use only my strengths in ministry. He also wants to use my weaknesses. After God helps me go through a problem or learn to live with a weakness, I can then help somebody else with the same difficulty. He weaves even the bad stuff in my life to make good. God will use my weakness to make me more like Jesus as I depend on him and the family of believers.

God may not remove my afflictions, but he does promise to demonstrate his power in me. The fact that God's power is displayed in my weakness should give me courage and hope. As I recognize my limitations, I will depend more on God for my effectiveness rather than on my own energy, or talent. My limitations and weakness not only help develop my character but also deepen my worship, because in admitting them, I affirm God's strength. Father I ask you for wisdom and guidance for my day, my work, my leadership, my interactions with others, with my future job role and in leading a small group. I pray these things through your Son Jesus’ name, Amen.