Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and
rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your
punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is
with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to
Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.
The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but
will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:14-17
No one wants to be perceived as weak.
We would rather put our weaknesses aside and attempt to be strong for others.
It seems that as long as we can keep busy and look strong, then we don’t feel
as weak. After all, no one throws a parade for the weak. Parades are for heroes.
Yet, in God’s economy our perceived
strengths often get in the way. If we can do for ourselves, then why do we need
God?
Many people have heard of David Ring.
He’s been preaching for 37 years in over 6,000 churches and speaks to over
100,000 people every year.
He starts with his classic line, “I
have cerebral palsy. What’s your problem?” David asked our audience if they had
noticed that he had a speech impediment. Then, in his wry humor, he says, “Oh,
I’m in South Carolina. Everyone has a speech impediment in South Carolina.”
He’s a character.
David lost his father when he was very
young. Then, his mother died when he was 14-years-old. He spent the rest of his
growing up years in foster care.
I was struck by David’s attitude about
his mother’s death. He said that if his mother hadn’t died, he wouldn’t have
been married. He wouldn’t have four children. He wouldn’t be in the ministry.
He would be at home tugging on his momma’s apron strings.
David went on to say that if he had the
choice of having cerebral palsy or being completely healthy, he would choose
cerebral palsy. His reason: “When I am weak, God is strong.” It was a little
difficult for any of us to have a pity party that day.
The Apostle Paul said, “But [God] said
to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
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 strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
How do you feel weak today? How can
your weakness reveal God’s strength? God doesn’t want to keep you down through
weakness. He wants you to see how helpless and limited you really are, so then
you can see how He can give you His strength.
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