There Is Glory in Weakness.

We are taught to be strong. We are told to be held together, to hold our heads high, to be brave, to be bold, to let none see our weaknesses –the list goes on. When you show your power, others will not sense your vulnerabilities, will fear messing with you, will leave you alone, and won’t try to tear down your walls. You won’t be challenged. You will be in control. You will be safe.

Well, let me challenge you as I was…

I just read through I and II Samuel and watched unfold before my eyes the life of David. I almost cried when this man so faithful to his God in the middle of a crowd fell in a secret, deep sin. Yet my heart rejoiced when he found forgiveness and mercy in a God who still cared to have him remembered as the one after His heart. Known so well for his triumphant defeat against Goliath, David should stand out to us not only for a blatant victory against evil but also for his silent trust in a Sovereign God.

Though beyond a shadow of a doubt called by God to be the next king of Israel, David found himself RUNNING from his predecessor who had come to hate him for the very reason he had first asked for him: dedicated service and a heart for God. For years, David hid in the mountains, the wilderness, and even his enemies. Twice he had the opportunity to kill the very man who was keeping him from God’s call on his life –his friends, even, encouraged him to slay Saul. It would have been so easy. It would have been so fast. Then, by the swing of a sword, Saul would have finally been defeated and David could embrace his already guaranteed kingship –his calling. He had been anointed by Samuel after all. Both times, though, David refused to harm Saul. Was David weak? Was David a coward?

He realized he was but a mere man that a Sovereign God wanted to use. That same Sovereign God who had called him to kingship would take care of ALL of His adversaries in His time. David had no right to decide when that timing was. Perhaps this does make David weak, in the world’s standards.

But there was glory in this weakness.

David recognized that all along, all his life, even when he was a young shepherd boy, God honored his humble heart that pursued and craved Him.  Later in his life, when David had to face his sin and its consequences, it was “weakness” that brought him back to the heart of God. Again during his kingship, David was faced with foolish adversaries who mocked him; David’s men encouraged him to destroy these enemies. David could have easily put anyone to death in his kingdom –he was king! Yet he insisted that God would settle the matter in His own time, in His own manner. He knew He could trust God to fulfill His promise. He chose to do nothing and maybe even be viewed as a weak king so that he could leave room for God to work. There IS glory in weakness.

I started reading I Peter a couple days ago, and this morning, a similar theme seemed to shine from the pages: I Peter 2 points out Christ’s behavior when He was falsely accused and in the midst of unfair suffering: He completely left it in the hands of the Sovereign God. He knew what He was called to do –and He knew He could trust the Father to fulfill His side of the promise too.

We are called to a similar walk in life. What can this world really do to us?

No matter how weak we are, we feel, or we realize we SHOULD be…there is beauty and there is glory in that weakness. It is this weakness that draws us to our knees, that motivates our hearts to thirst for His face and His truth, that moves us to compassion to a starving world, and that secures our hope and true confidence in OUR Sovereign God.

“You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied…the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands” (I Samuel 45, 47).

This was David’s cry throughout his entire life –against the bears and lions that sought to steal his sheep; against Saul who coveted the blessing of God on David’s life; and against all other enemies that mocked David’s leadership and delight in God. Will it be yours? Dear readers, I do not know what you’re going through. I probably will never hear from you nor hear your story. But I wager to say that you have weaknesses –everyone does! It’s really not a matter of having them but of what you will do with them.

Will you be ashamed of your weaknesses? Will you stuff them in a closet, hoping that the doors will not accidentally open when you have company over? Do you have power but long to restrain it but are afraid to? Will you accept and embrace your weaknesses, leaving them at His feet? Will you commit yourself to the One who judges righteously (I Peter 2:23)? Will you trust Him?

There is GLORY in these weaknesses, no matter what these are.