Strengths and Weaknesses

     A few days ago, I cleaned out my iPhone notes and organized them, because isn’t that what everyone does for fun? 

     And buried underneath some incoherent rambling, dreams, story ideas, and slightly humorous quotes, I found some devotions that I’d written and never done anything with. Sure, they’re short, but I think their beauty is in the fact that they’re so succinct. Who knows when I wrote them, but I feel like now is the time to share this short series with you, “The Notepad Sessions.”

      Have you ever thought of what your downfall is? What plagues you the most?

     It's so amazing that each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses. As Paul so aptly describes, we are a body of Christ, made of parts.

     In my body, my legs are the strongest part of me, thanks to years of ballet. Likewise, my upper body strength is...well, lacking in comparison (read: completely inexistent, because they're basically limp noodles). But that doesn't mean that my arms are useless. I mean, sure, they can't win any fights for me, but I couldn't eat without them. I couldn't write or type without them. And my legs have their limitations, as well. I will never, ever be able to do a toe touch, even with all my years in ballet.

     What am I getting at here? Well, just like my physical body and yours, our spiritual bodies have strengths and weaknesses as well. We all have moments where we don't shine, where we falter. Maybe we doubt. Maybe we lie. Maybe we steal. Maybe we let our tempers flair. Gossip. Malice. Anything! These are our faults: the things that we don't ever let anyone else see, so we can pretend like they don't exist at all.

     I want you to think of a Bible hero. Go on: someone that you really love. Now, I want to think of that person's flaw. Don't think that, just because they're in the Bible, they were perfect!

     Solomon, the wisest man of all, had over 600 wives.

     David, a man after God's own heart, committed adultery.

     Moses, who led God's people out of Israel, was prideful. 

     Jonah, a prophet of God, balked at a command and ran away, consumed with a hateful heart.

     Peter was prideful, violent (he cut off a servant's ear in his zeal to protect Jesus!), and denied Christ.

     James and John were competitive “sons of thunder”—they probably lost their temper a lot! They also tried to get the "best" positions in Heaven, to basically be third and fourth in command below God and Jesus.

     And Thomas? Well, he didn't get the nickname “Doubting Thomas” for no reason.

     But yet—they were all disciples of Christ.

     God didn't wait for them to get their act together before He used them. David and Solomon were kings! Moses was the leader! Jonah was a prophet, and the disciples were ALREADY disciples. God utilized them even though they were broken. Even though they sinned, and even though they fell short of perfection time and time again.

     We like to attach strings to God sometimes. We like to think that He can't use us because—we don't have enough faith. We screwed up in our lives. We haven't ever done anything for God before. The list of excuses could go on and on. But God doesn't wait for us to get our acts together before He uses us. In fact, Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

     We will always be sinners. If you're waiting to be perfect before you accept God, or do something for God, you'll never move. But do you know what's amazing? Once we trust God—He forgives our sin. He even changes us. It's not always an immediate change—after all, if I want my arms to be more than limp noodles, I'd have to put in an extreme amount of exercise time—but it can be done. Nothing is impossible with God.

     Remember all those heroes I mentioned?

     Solomon suffered from lust. He was a wise King, who eventually returned to God and realized the error of his mistakes and advised others against them.

     David—sinful, adulterous David—is described as "a man after God's own heart."

     Prideful Moses? Well, Numbers 12:3 describes him as the most humble man on EARTH. (That's quite an accomplishment!)

    Jonah surrendered to God and went to the place he hated.

     Peter, James, John, and Thomas? All of them went on to deliver the gospels to the far reach of the worlds—even doubting Thomas died for his faith. Their flaws did not define their faith.

     In each of these cases, God took a weakness and made it a strength. Because they had to work so hard and rely so fervently on God to overcome this weakness, it was like they were constantly working it out. And take heart in this, because that means that no one, no matter how flawed, is ever beyond God's redemption.