Strength in Weakness

"But he 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."
2 Corinthians 12:9

There are times when we are weak. We are people of flesh and that flesh fights against the strength of life in the Spirit. We continue to sin, even though we desire to be holy. We struggle in our faith even though we proclaim the victory of Christ. Our earthly life is sometimes difficult and we face times of extreme weakness. But there is a Rescuer, One who will never leave us or forsake us. He is not ashamed of our weakness, rather, he is glorified through our weakness and his power is made perfect in us.
    Jesus lived a sinless life. The Bible tells us that he was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, yet he did not fall into sin...not even once. This example is to be our goal as Christians. We simply cannot remain in our sin. If we receive Christ and pass from death to life, but continue to live the same way we did before, there is something wrong. The one who has truly received the grace of Christ will hunger and thirst for righteousness. Still, we face times of weakness. How do we overcome?
    In times of weakness, God's grace is sufficient for us. We must learn to lean on that grace. We often view our weakness as failure. We think we have disappointed God by not living up to his standards. But the truth is, no one in the course of history has ever lived up to the standards of God. It is impossible. So in those times of weakness, God says that his strength is revealed through his grace. His power is made perfect when we are forced to rely on his grace. There is not one thing more foundational than the grace of God. That grace manifested because of his great love for us is the heart of relationship with God. Without grace, we are all doomed to die fires of hell. Thank God for his grace!
    Rather than shrinking under condemnation because of our weakness and sin, we ought to be boasting and proclaiming the saving grace of God. The ultimate expression of God's power was the victory of the cross. Raising Jesus from the dead ushered in the season of grace. We have the unprecedented blessing of living within the powerful grace of God. We can never be strong in the face of the weakness of sin, but God can. It is for that sin that he gave the ultimate sacrifice. We should strive to live a holy and righteous life, but in the times of sin, we rely on the grace of God. This is how the world sees that God is loving and powerful. We can take no credit, he deserves it all, for he has covered our sin and used our weakness to show himself perfect in strength. Praise God that in the time of our weakness, he is perfect in strength!