All I Need

But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

The beauty of Christ is seen no better than when set against the darkness of His followers’ struggles and weakness. Just as stars shine more brightly against a dark, rural sky, so those who trust Jesus in the midst of personal pain or hardship stand out more brilliantly than when all is well.

It is the widow who, though beset by loneliness and personal poverty, opens her heart in hospitality to others that reflects the love of Christ within. It is the man who, giving his energy to one endeavor after another yet never quite finding success, encourages those around him to greater aspirations that radiates the power of God inside. As God’s people bear up under various trials, still believing all things work together for their good, the gospel is written in neon letters across their lives.

The apostle Paul endured a painful problem which he called an “angel from Satan.” Three times he begged God to take away this “thorn in the flesh”, and three times God gave a different answer. It was this very pain that would keep him humbly dependant on God alone for his strength. As “The Message” puts it: “Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees.”

The gifts based on simple human talent eventually fade. The great orator finds words harder to remember as he ages. The sweet violinist is frustrated over fingers which no longer move as swiftly over the strings. At some point, each of us reaches our “prime”, the top point at which we can excel in our various talent, for any number of reasons. Our bodies wear down, our minds eventually fade, and age takes its toll.

What God wants us to know is that His Spirit is not dependent upon our personal strengths, gifts or abilities. That is not to say He does not use them, but we must never mistake our natural talents for the empowering and anointing of God’s Holy Spirit.

This help is two-fold: encouraging and humbling. We should be greatly encouraged that, though we have so-called weaknesses, they are no barrier to God’s ability to use us. In fact, it is not that He uses us “in spite” of our weaknesses, it is only “in our weaknesses” that He does use us!  Whether it is a painful attack like Paul experienced, or just feeling we lack the gifts of others, we must believe that God’s Spirit is more than happy to use what we think are our deficits!

The other side of the coin, though, means we need to be willing to lay aside our reliance upon our obvious strengths. This is no cause for sloppy preparation or zero discipline. It is the admission that, as much talent as I may possess, and as far as I may have developed it, it will never come close to what can happen when I release my hold on being the “best”, and simply allow God to work through my inabilities.

Do not despair over your disabilities; let your pain drive you to God who supplies needed strength.  Do not be afraid to press on in spite of the barriers that may hold you back; just make sure to trust God’s promise that His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

We may stumble, we may not look as good under the lights as the next person, we may even have been limited in life by unforeseen circumstances. Those things are real, and God never expects us to act as if they do not exist. Pain exists and it affects those plagued by it. Not every Christian wins every race. Not every believer rises to the top of their profession. But, what every follower of Jesus can depend upon is the power provided by the Holy Spirit that, in ways far beyond our comprehension, supplies the strength we fear we have lost. And, if I read this passage right, supplies far more than our greatest personal talents could ever produce on their own; let alone what He does through our weaknesses.

Learn today, and make it your personal conviction: “God’s grace is all I need. Only when I am weak can everything be completed by God’s power.”