Devotion-Glory in Our Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

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 I suffer for Christ.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (NLT)

What a week.  What a blindside.  How much do we go walking through our Christian, worship, fellowship, praying, Bible-reading lives and forget to listen to God.  To pay attention to the basic things in our curious search for “higher-truth.”  I put that in quotes because I ate humble pie this week.  With a whipped cream topping of, “you missed the whole point.”

I know my gift, teaching and what I am called to do, yet I did it without love. Ironic (no) that this week I was teaching the love chapter in the Bible-1 Corinthians 13.  The one you always hear at weddings. 

During communion last week I was reflecting on myself as a teacher, the divine gift God has given me.  As I quieted myself, He was able to redirect me and remind me that He didn’t want me to worry so much about how prepared I was to teach, instead to trust Him to provide that as He has prepared my life up to this point with knowledge that will be there when I need it.  He wants me to focus on the eternal impact I make.  How I can always be a minister, a witness to Him as my greatest concern.  All that week in little ways He had been speaking to my heart in His quiet voice about my definition of success being different than His.  He confirmed to me that I’m ready to lay down my worldly-definition and seek the steeper road and follow Him much higher, where deep down the success in my life, my value and worth is defined by Him.  He was starting with my teaching.

Cleansed and setting out with clarity on what He sees I need, I obeyed…or did I?  Doesn’t the Bible say obedience brings the good fruit of peace, patience, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians)? I did start my week differently, reaching out to a college I have labored in prayer for, who I think God put in my life to lead on a path toward knowing Him.  I enjoyed teaching the kiddos, felt the burden lift as my perspective shifted.  Yet I missed the other half-- my bible study ladies.

I had a monster of a passage to teach on, including spiritual gifts and women to be silent in the church.  I did an intense amount of preparation and study.  I knew all the cross references and commentators points.  I was ready to defend the passage to what I understood it to mean.  Deep down it thrilled me to think I was so smart and they would all see the wisdom in my preparation.   All about me, not on the surface, but as I’ve prayed and reflected on last week I do think looking smart was more important to me than really leading them in knowing Christ.  Ladies, I read this passage many times and never saw it applied to me: If I had the gift of prophecy, and understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love other, I would be nothing…special knowledge will become useless…our knowledge s partial and incomplete…love is not proud (1 Cor 13:2, 4, 8-9).  For real love, God’s love seeks the welfare of others, it considers there needs more important than our own.  Though it was never my intention, I did not love.  I was worried about being ready instead of thinking about what they needed.  It is actually the first rule of teaching—know who you are teaching, think of what they know first, where they are going, and what you can share to bring them there.  My dear friend Renee calls these learning targets.  Girls, I was shooting at a target without an arrow!

For teaching isn’t a goal, it’s a journey—and I am teacher and student at the same time.  While I teach I must learn from Him and apply it. 

I love this quote from author David Seamands, from the book Healing for Damaged Emotions that I just finished today: Too many of us think that we can only minister out of strength—that only when we are victorious and can impress people with our strong points will we bring God the most glory.  But Paul claimed that there are only two kinds of things we can glory in…the cross…our weakness…Why?  Because God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.  As Christians we are called to be healed helpers, moving not out of strength but out of weakness.

I pray a prayer before every study asking people to see my progress and glory Him.  It’s out of 1 Timothy 4:14-16, some verses that spoke to me in starting this endeavor.  He answered my prayer by showing me I will make progress because I have a long way to go to teach from His heart, and I need to start by thinking of others.  For my gift is nothing without love.  Who I am is nothing without my weakness showing, because is my weakness is God, and where God dwells IS the power for life transformation. 

This story ends well, like all the stories that God tells because He writes the epic adventures in the lives of those who love Him.  Though the women of my group may not feel like they know a lot about the bible sometimes, they know a lot about love.  They are women of grace and patience for me, as I seek after the One who loves our hearts.  They are letting me have a re-do this week. My preparation now is not about knowledge but love, as I am confident in the God of second chances, and thirds, and fourths…

Your turn: Read 1 Corinthians 13 and consider the dynamic between loving others and letting your weakness show.  Perhaps journal about a time you have brought someone closer to God.  Was love involved?  If you can’t think of one, perhaps you are missing God’s definition of love in your interactions with others.  It is the only thing that will last; it is the greatest way.  Here’s a song from Sara Groves to help you reflect on this concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJoqSQG0D60.

I’m so grateful to a God that can use weakness because that’s all I have to give.  That’s why we need grace and the cross; we don’t truly have anything to offer but our messed-up selves.  And that’s the good news…because that’s all He needs to make us beautiful. 

A healed helper,

-Rayna