Strength in Weakness

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9 ESV

Recently, my ten-year-old son has taken an interest in having big muscles. I’ve noticed him flexing in the mirror, hoping that the few pushups he did earlier had achieved their intended purpose. I love to put my fingers around his little biceps and remark how big his arms are getting. He acts like it isn’t a big deal, but the compliment appears to make his chest puff up just a little higher.

We are taught from a very age that appearing strong is a big deal. While strength can mean different things to different people (financial wealth, success, independence), our desire to be strong often stems from a fear of appearing weak. We live in a culture allergic to weakness. Where we lack strength, we compensate by covering over our weaknesses. Yet, in God’s kingdom, strength is not the absence of weakness. Rather, divine strength is the confession and surrender of our weaknesses. As Paul said of his own weakness: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:10 ESV). Paul learned that the power of Christ was able to rest on his weaknesses, whatever they may be.

When Israel entered the Promised Land, God commanded the people to “be strong and courageous.” How they were to be strong was by recognizing their utter dependency on God for provision and victory everywhere they went. Whenever they faced opposition, they measured the size and strength of their enemy not against their own size and strength but against the size and strength of their God. The sum of their strength was found not from within but in the God, who would be with them wherever they would go.

Today, God is calling you to be strong and courageous. Your spiritual inheritance in Christ is a spirit of power, not a spirit of fear. How God desires you to grow in strength is not by attempting to eliminate or hide all of your weaknesses but by deepening your dependency on Him. If you want to grow in His strength today, I encourage you to begin acknowledging your places of weakness. Where are you weak today? Is it a distraction? Are you struggling with shame? Maybe it is fear that is holding you back? What if instead of concealing and covering over these weaknesses, you surrendered them to Christ so that He might manifest His grace? Also, remember that God’s strength comes in ways that aren’t common to our ways. Be careful not to judge the strength God gives you by your own understanding of strength. If God’s ways are higher than our ways, then His strength will not always come in the manner in which we think it should. There is no greater example of this than the cross. As Christ was crucified, nobody saw the cross as a sign of strength. To their eyes, a man hanging on a cross was a sign of weakness and defeat. But to the Father’s eyes, Christ on the cross was the greatest display of strength and courage this world had ever known. What broke the power of sin and death was the strength Christ showed in humility and sacrifice.

Since the same power of Christ that conquered the grave lives is in you, you are so much stronger than you know. God’s strength will not always feel like strength because His strength comes in our dependence and humility. So today, be strong and courageous by trusting in God’s ways. Acknowledge your dependency on Him for all your needs. Finally, remember that no matter what your weakness is, God will be with you, always and forever.

Dear Jesus, I thank you that you humbled Yourself in obedience even unto death. May I see Your sacrifice as the greatest show of strength this world will ever know, and may that transform my understanding of what it means to be strong and courageous. Help me not to hide my weaknesses in fear or arrogance but to lay my weaknesses at the foot of the cross. Amen.