Weakness Can Be a Good Thing

In Psalm 84:5 I read, “You bless all who depend on you for their strength.” (CEV)

Am I tired? Running on steam, and at the end of each day, I’ve run out of energy. The reason why is really simple: I’m human.

My strength is limited. But God’s strength is unlimited. My strength is finite. But God’s strength is infinite. My strength is exhaustible—that’s why I get exhausted! But God’s strength is inexhaustible. God never runs out of energy. God never gets tired.

Psalm 84:5 says, “You bless all who depend on you for their strength” (CEV). To get God’s blessing on my life, I need to depend on God for my strength.

At some point I may find myself so weak that I can’t even pray, read the Bible, go to a Bible study, work, or really do anything. What should I do in those moments? I can rest in the strength of the Lord—in his arms like a little child—and you trust.

Weakness can actually be a good thing in life if it causes me to depend on God. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Paul says, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 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. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (NLT).

That’s the paradox of depending on God: The weaker I am, the more I should depend on him. And the more I depend on him, the stronger I’ll get.

In summary, be strong in the Lord. My strength is limited, but God is unlimited. My strength is finite, but God is infinite. My strength is exhaustible, but God never runs out of energy. God never gets tired. So I need to depend on God for strength. 

Why is it so difficult for me to admit or show weakness? I think it comes from the belief that I should always be strong. Our culture tends to perpetuate the idea that I have to be strong all the time. It’s the “suck it up” and take care of it, you don’t need to lean on others.  

My weakness is a good thing if I let it cause me to depend on him. The more I depend on him, the stronger I'll get.