Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Weakness

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am made strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

When I was little I went through this stage where I wanted so badly to have a PERFECT day.  My goal was to get through a WHOLE day without doing anything bad or foolish.  HA!  I wouldn't get 30 minutes into my day before I'd roll my eyes at my mom or push my brother, and I'd feel the defeat of my sin weighing on me.  *Remember, I was like 7 years old=)  I'd feel so guilty for messing up, so defeated by myself because I couldn't be the perfect person that I thought God wanted me to be.  The next day I'd get up and try even harder, but I'd inevitably do something else that didn't please God.

In these verses Paul was talking about the "thorn in the flesh" that God put on Paul to always remind him that God was the one in control.  This "thorn" was NEVER removed.  Paul had to view this weakness as a blessing, as a constant reminder.  He had to shift his focus.

My perspective must shift to view these imperfections, these weaknesses in my life, as tools that God can use to be made GREAT!  That should be my end goal, right?  Not so that I can pat myself on the back for getting through a whole day being a "good person", or being the perfect mom, or having it all together (do you see my perfectionism coming out or what???)  but to make God GREAT!  God will work through my weaknesses if I will allow Him to take total control over them.  He may never take them away, but He can definitely be seen through them.

3 comments:

the broomes said...

So true, Tasha. Thanks for the encouragement. I get weighed down with guilt when I fail to be the perfect wife and mom too. --But you're right: our job is to allow God's greatness to shine in our weaknesses!! ..and what a beautiful thing to teach and model to our kids!!!!

Patrice said...

This is a beautiful Bible verse! Very inspiring! I might have to use this quote sometime!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm loving yours so far!

a.helms said...

Thanks so much for this Tasha. This rang so true for me. I get so bogged down in my guilt and perfectionism and loose site of what God wants me to keep my focus on. Thanks so much for putting this into words the way you did. I have had a hard time doing that.