The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"Weak… Strong"
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Why, if such power as declared by the Apostle Paul works in us through the Lord Jesus Christ, do we so often feel greatly challenged by weakness? No less than seemingly mighty King David felt the reality of human frailty: "Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: o Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed" (Psalm 6:2).
The more salient question involves our Savior Himself. Why did He live most of His earthly lifetime wherein no overt displays of divine power were manifested, and even when His ministry began, weakness continued to characterize His human experience? "Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well" (John 4:6). Moreover, the Apostle Paul declared of our Lord, "He was crucified through weakness" (II Corinthians 13:4).
The answer lies in the nature of humanity. God made us to live in dependence on Him, and to function by receiving His grace through faith. He forever serves as the strong party in the relationship. We forever serve as the needy supplicants who would not even exist apart from His creative fiat. Nor would we continue to exist, nor can we live as He would have us live without His dynamic presence serving as the life of our lives.
"It is He that hath made us… By Him all things consist… Without Me ye can do nothing" (Psalm 100:3; Colossians 1:17; John 15:5).
The Lord Jesus took upon Himself our humanity in order to identify with us, and to make possible His sacrificial death for us. He lived by faith no less than we do, and actually even more since He perfectly trusted His Father throughout His earthly life. "I live by the Father… the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works" (John 6:57; 14:10). This required His participation in the weakness that serves as the conduit through which the power of God flows. "We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews 4:15). Our Lord is well acquainted with the challenging sensations of weakness, which serve as the motivating means of accessing the strength of God.
Weakness characterizes humanity as the very nature of our being. "We are weak in Him" (II Corinthians 13:4). This can be decidedly uncomfortable, based on the world in which we live, and our flesh that still longs to be strong in and of itself. No such possibility exists for a race that in Him lives and moves and has its being (Acts 17:28). Thus, we seek to grow in grace, and in the realization that where we appear to be strong, Someone else actually serves as the source of power, enabling, and function. When we feel and experience weakness, we seek to seize the opportunity it affords to do what we were made to do: "the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17). Paul well knew this dynamic means of of life, Christ's life, and the "strength made perfect in weakness" relationship between the divine and the human. We close with his affirmation that our need ever and forever serves as the reminder to avail ourselves of God's supply…
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
(II Corinthians 12:10)
Weekly Memory Verse
Great is our Lord, and of great power, His understanding is infinite.
(Psalm 147:5)
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