God is the wisest leader of all leaders. He’s the most
brilliant shepherd of all shepherds. His leadership guarantees the production of
all that we were destined to be if we heed it. As I think of His leadership and
how He molds and fashions us into being the most fruitful in our love and work
I’m stunned with how He does it. It’s so ‘upside down’ and so ‘odd’ compared to
our natural way of doing life.
Consider this verse: 2 Cor 12:9-10 ...My strength is
made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my
infirmities (weaknesses) that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10
... For when I am weak then I am strong (NKJ). 2 Cor 12:10 The
weaker I get, the stronger I become (The Message). This is a powerful
verse. Think about it. The strength of Jesus is made perfect upon us in
the place of embracing weakness. Whoa! Paul says “Oh that the power of Christ
may rest on me!” I want this. I want God’s strength to be made perfect in my
life and I too want to experience the power of Christ resting upon me. Beloved
this is in our reach. Come on... sign me up!
So what about this ‘weakness’? What’s that about? The
weakness that Paul is speaking of is not moral weakness. He’s rather speaking of
a weakness that causes humility, dependency, and poverty of spirit.
In Matthew 6 Jesus speaks of many godly choices that will
cultivate weakness into us. They include fasting, prayer, giving, blessing and
living simple. Inevitably, if these choices are embraced on a consistent basis,
weakness will be a part of our life. It’s in this weakness that God leads you
into greatness.
He molds us and perfects His strength upon us. Each
choice is a form of fasting, in that we are voluntarily embracing weakness by
submitting our strengths into God’s hands and trusting Him to answer us His
way, in His time and in His power. In giving, we fast our
money (financial strength). In serving and prayer, we are fasting our time and
energy, investing it in others and in time to pray. In blessing those who offend
us, we fast words and reputation. Fasting from food is not primarily a call to
hunger but to physical weakness. We must embrace these choices long term. No one
graduates from this lifestyle. Remind yourself; God’s strength is made
perfect in weakness. His power WILL rest upon you in the place of embracing
godly weaknesses.
This is what I meant earlier when I said His leadership is
‘upside down’ and ‘odd’. Take fasting food for example. You go without food for
a day or two and about midday of that 2nd day your buzzy in the
head. You can’t collect your thoughts well. You fumble your words. You have a
headache and you’re agitated easily. All you can think about is eating some food
so you can attain strength and function like you know you can do. This is the
point. We’re challenged in our pride. We think that we’ll be ‘better’ in life if
we can just remain in ‘our’ strength. God’s prescription is entirely
different. He says to me: “Actually Wes, you’ll be a better leader, a better
communicator, a better husband and father when you embrace weakness so that My
strength may be your strength.” Be blessed. Consider this.
