But he answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 TPT
I recently started my career as an aerospace engineer after nearly eight years of pursuing engineering degrees. Now, I am contributing to many significant aerospace programs that are incredibly complex, challenging, and inspiring. In all humility, it is actually pretty cool what I am involved in when I step back and take a look at what God has tasked me with in this season. I’ve had quite a few people ask me, “How on earth did you earn multiple engineering degrees with small children at home? How are you able to perform like you do at work when you have small kids and your wife works night shift? How can you run a missions organization in Kenya while doing everything else?”
The truth is, everything I am doing requires an incredible amount of focus, determination, energy, and straight hard work. The things God has me doing now requires every ounce of my energy, vision, and faith. But while people see the things I am doing externally, hardly anyone knows what it takes for me to operate at my current capacity. What nobody sees is how I posture my heart before the Lord. And really, my current capacity is nowhere near what I believe God has in store for each of His children.
I’ve learned that when you hear from God concerning an assignment He has for you, it seems to follow a certain pattern. First, one indicator you know you have heard from God is that it is utterly impossible to accomplish what God has called you to do in your own strength. If you could do it in your own strength apart from God, why would He bother to ask you to do it? No, God is a big God, and He delights in using imperfect people who do not have it all together to accomplish His plans and purposes in this age.
Second, immediately after receiving a fresh word from the Lord, I am tempted to go out and get started right away! This creates an immediate problem, because my tendency is to take the reins, start moving, and get after it! My wife says that I like to jump first before taking the time to look and see if the pool has any water in it. I like a little action in life; what can I say?
This doesn’t usually work out well. For example, years ago when my wife would call me on her way home from work, clearly upset about something that happened during her shift, my immediate gut-reaction was to try and ‘fix’ her problem. I couldn’t imagine that she didn’t want me to fix her problems. Turns out she usually wanted to just vent and get things out in the open so she could work through processing the situation she just experienced. It took me more years than I care to admit, figuring out that unless my wife explicitly asks for my help, I would do best to keep my mouth shut and just listen to her. I’d wish I could announce that I am a master at this aspect of marriage, but I am, in fact, not. I solve problems; that’s what I do. What can I say?
So when I hear a clear word from God that I KNOW is a new assignment in my life, it is easy to immediately start dreaming up ways to make God’s word come to pass. I’ve messed up on this more times than I can tell you before it finally began to sink in… God didn’t choose me because of what I can do for Him… He chose me because He is God and I am not. I have much more to learn, but I have learned this one thing over the years: God is utterly faithful to His Word. If I will just get out of the way with my pride and tendency to push my agenda, I have found that God can do amazing things—despite how I tend to mess things up!
It’s interesting how Paul connects God’s grace—which is His empowering ability flowing in and through us to become all He created us to be—to recognizing and celebrating your personal weaknesses. I think many Christians read this verse and assume that it’s godly to think of themselves as lowly worms, humiliating themselves. God isn’t asking for us to humiliate ourselves, but to humble ourselves!
What does it mean, then, to truly ‘celebrate in’ your weaknesses? In the Greek, this statement essentially says, “I will therefore boast or glory in my weaknesses…” The point isn’t elevating how weak you are. The point is learning to NOT celebrate in your own natural ability, no matter how amazing you are. Humans always want to celebrate something, so God worked out this amazing system: when we learn how to recalibrate our celebration parameters, He empowers us beyond our wildest imaginations. That’s literally grace in action. Learning to not lean on your own understanding unlocks the door to a supernatural flow of God’s grace that seems to be inaccessible through any other means.
Celebrating in your weakness is not celebrating your weakness; it is celebrating the fact that God would want to be your friend, change your life, and give you purpose and a future: even with all your weaknesses! The most amazing things I have ever seen God do have all been when I am in a heart posture of full awareness of my abilities: both good, intelligent, and noble—and the baggage of personal weaknesses I carry. Neither one of those carries any weight to me. What matters is that I am a friend of God, and I know that His grace really is sufficient for me. I know that when I get out of the spotlight and trust Him with all my heart, leaning not unto my own understanding; in all my ways acknowledging Him, He is faithful to His Word and He makes my paths straight.
I don’t think that what God is asking me to do in life is anything more special than anything He is asking you to do. I think what is special is yielding your life completely to God and letting Him lead and guide you every step of the way. God knows what He is doing. He is a faithful, faithful, faithful friend and a good, good Father. I know that He has asked you, friend, to accomplish something with your life that is FAR above your ability to do on your own. The kind of assignment that requires a life of trust, closeness, and understanding with the Father that results in a downgrading of your own self, in your own eyes, and a total reliance upon the Lord for a continual stream of miracles, wonders, and the supernatural glory of God in your everyday life. That, my friend, is a life worth living.
So, I encourage you today: in what part of your life do you need a massive flood of God’s supernatural grace? What aspect of your life do you need to become flooded with God’s power, ability, and victory? What parts of your life are you doggedly pushing ahead in your own strength? (And how is that working for you?) If you have heard a legitimate word from God, are you celebrating in the fact that God would use you, despite all your issues? Or are you celebrating something that you can take full credit for? The things in life worth celebrating the most are things that you cannot take full credit for. The most exciting and rich adventure of this life is to cultivate an intimate relationship with the Father, then, with His guidance, carefully nurture the His Promises as they grow to full term, trusting in Him to be faithful to His eternal Word.
I pray this is a little reminder and an encouragement to renew your passion for the things of God more than ever before. To seek Him for fresh vision; to begin to believe God for something outlandish. You and I have a purpose, and we don’t have much time left to finish the work we were created to do. I am praying for you!