Promise for Today - Powerful Weakness

Guest author - Christopher Glotzbach 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

You need help.

Those are words I have a hard time believing… and an even harder time receiving.

But something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is this:
When I receive help, I’m not just allowing someone to help me — I’m giving them an opportunity to bless. And when I refuse help, sometimes I unintentionally hinder someone else from living out the way God created them. 

The other day during a workout, I was on the ground (yes, on purpose ) trying to get a weight onto my lap so I could do some glute bridges. I was struggling. Like… really struggling. Before I knew it, a woman from the gym came over and offered to help me lift the plate into position.

Now, I’m pretty hardheaded… I mean, determined … so I was still fighting to get it myself.
She offered again and I looked at her and said: “No, I’m okay.”  She walked away, and I could tell she looked a little confused. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I wondered if my refusal didn’t only communicate, “I don’t need help,” but maybe even, “I don’t need you.” And that bothered me.

After my workout, I found her and apologized. But honestly, the whole thing felt awkward.
And the reality is… it didn’t have to be.
How much harder would it have been to simply say, “Yes, thank you”?
I could have humbled myself, accepted help and given someone else the opportunity to serve...

But

The reason I said no wasn’t because I didn’t need help. It was because of pride. 

And that moment has had me thinking: 

How often do I refuse help from people who genuinely want to help me? 

Over the last week, I’ve challenged myself to say yes more often. And you know what I’ve discovered? Something really beautiful happens when we allow people to lean in. We give people the opportunity to live out the way God created them. Because we weren’t created to live independently from one another. We were created to serve, encourage, carry burdens, to give ourselves away, practice hospitality.  It’s the mission of Christ through us. 

That’s part of what it means to die to ourselves.
And sometimes my refusal to receive isn’t humility — it’s actually pride. Because when I refuse help, I’m not only trying to prove I can do it on my own… I may be keeping someone else from experiencing the joy of serving.

And I wonder how often we do the same thing with God. How often is the Lord offering us help — giving us peace, wisdom, strength, or direction — and we respond: “No, I’m okay.” How often do we rely on our own strength instead of receiving His?

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Then Paul says: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Maybe weakness isn’t something we need to hide.
Maybe weakness is an invitation to experience God’s power — and the blessing of others.
Because when people are generous with their time, talent and treasure, it makes us want to be generous in the same way. Right?!

 
So today my prayer is this:
Lord, 

       Help me stay humble and open to receive help. Remind me that when I accept help, I’m not just receiving a blessing — I’m allowing someone else to be a blessing. Help me stop trying to prove I can do everything on my own. Help me boast in my weakness, knowing that Your power is made perfect in my need. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Dependent Strength

You bless all who depend on you for their strength.
Psalm 84:5 (CEV)

Are you tired? Maybe you’re running on steam, and at the end of each day, you’ve run out of energy. The reason why is really simple: You’re a human being. Your strength is limited. But God’s strength is unlimited. Your strength is finite. But God’s strength is infinite. Your strength is exhaustible—that’s why you get exhausted! But God’s strength is inexhaustible. God never runs out of energy. God never gets tired.

Psalm 84:5 says, “You bless all who depend on you for their strength” (CEV). Do you want God’s blessing on your life? Then you need to depend on God for your strength.

Hudson Taylor was an influential missionary to China in the 19th century. He was a spiritual giant and a brilliant man. In his old age, he lost his health and became quite weak. He wrote a letter to a friend that said, “I am so weak I can no longer work. I am so weak I can no longer study. I am so weak I can no longer read my Bible. I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in the arms of God like a little child in trust.”

At some point in your life, you may be so weak that you can’t even pray, read the Bible, go to a Bible study, work, or really do anything. What do you do in those moments? You rest in the strength of the Lord—in his arms like a little child—and you trust.

Weakness can actually be a good thing in your life if it causes you to depend on God. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NLT, Paul says, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong”.

That’s the paradox of depending on God: The weaker you are, the more you depend on him. And the more you depend on him, the stronger you get.

Talk It Over

Why is it sometimes difficult to admit or show weakness?

How does your culture perpetuate the idea that you have to be strong all the time?

What does it mean to depend on God’s strength? What would that look like in your life?
- by Pastor Rick
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Prayer:

Father,
          Your Word promises that Your Strength is made perfect in our weakness. Isaiah teaches that when we wait upon You, our strength will be renewed; we will mount up with wings like eagles; we will run and not be weary and walk and not faint. And also that we don't have to fear, for You are with us. You are our God. You promise to strengthen and help us, and hold us up with Your righteous right hand. Fill our bodies with Your healing power and our spirits with unwavering faith. Grant us the peace and comfort found only in Your presence. Teach us to rest in Your timing, to trust Your plans, and to draw from the strength You provide so we can continue living for Your purpose. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Compared to Eternity

If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you. 

Romans 8:11 (GNT)

God never promised that life would be fair. Heaven is where everything is done God’s way; life on Earth just doesn’t work like that. We live on a broken planet. But what happens on earth isn’t all there is to life.

You’ll spend 60, 80, or maybe 100 years on Earth. You’ll spend trillions of years in eternity. If you’ve placed your faith in Jesus, the Bible says you’ll spend eternity with God in heaven.

That’s one of the most important reasons Christians should be joyful—God has given us eternal life!

And eternity will be amazing!

What will heaven be like? You’ll be reunited with people you love. You’ll get rewards. You’ll rest. You’ll get responsibilities you love.

And, as Romans 8:11 says, you’ll get a new body. That’s one of the things I’m most excited about in heaven—no more decaying old body.

You were created because God wants a family. He wants to spend eternity with his family. He wants to spend eternity with you and me! And that truth can - and should - bring you great joy.

Talk It Over

How does knowing that life is short compared to all of eternity change the way you live?

If God wants you in heaven with him, why do you think you are here on earth now? What is your purpose for the time you are here?

How are you working to fulfill your purpose?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

          Help us to remember that life here is fleeting - over before we know it. But for those who have accepted Christ as our Saviour, we look forward to eternity in Heaven with You and with those we hold dear... and miss so much for the time being - but in Heaven, never again to be missed... As the writer of Hebrews encouraged us - "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."  Father, in our weakness, be our Strength. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Whaddaya Know?

Then the Lord himself said, “Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites.”
Gideon replied, “But how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest one in Manasseh, and everyone else in my family is more important than I am.”
“Gideon,” the Lord answered, “you can rescue Israel because I am going to help you!" 
Judges 6:14-16a CEV

We pray. God answers. Then we tell Him all of our excuses why His way won't work, based on what we know of ourselves. Why do we do that?!? We must not recognize the Creator for who He is! Perhaps we don't remember who hung the moon? (And the sun. And the stars. And the planets.) 

Lyric excerpts from I Know My Redeemer Lives may serve to remind us:

Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
And who told the ocean you can only come this far?
And who showed the moon where to hide 'til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?

The very same God that spins things in orbit
Runs to the weary, the worn and the weak.
And the same gentle hands that hold me when I'm broken
They conquered death to bring me victory...

It's THAT God! HE is the One who says, "Because I am going to help you!" Oh, that we would know God in His greatness better than we know ourselves in our weaknesses!

Prayer:

Father, 
         Please forgive us for all the times we fail to recognize You for who You are and for all the times we have minimized You and limited Your will and purpose for our lives. Once again, we repent and submit our lives to You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen 

Perfectly Strong

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 

2nd Corinthians 12:9a NKJV

Are you strong? Are you able to bear up under great stresses and great loads? Do you realize that the only strength you have is what God gives to you for you to accomplish His will and plan? 

I know people who all the time quote, "In my weakness, He is strength," but I'm not sure they realize what they're saying or asking. They think they're proclaiming God will make them even stronger when they feel weak. I don't think it's about that. I think it's about recognizing my weakness and inability to live life, and to do this on my own and in my own strength. 

However, for years I tried to do exactly that. I would confess that Scripture and expect to be fortified with unbeatable strength of mind and will and body. It wasn't until I came to the end of myself, broken and undone, with no hope for tomorrow that I discovered the Truth about the strength of God. I threw myself on the altar, recognizing that I had nothing left. Face down before the Lord, I had to admit there was nothing in me that could do one more day of anything.

In that moment, when I confessed my weaknesses to God, I felt His love and strength. I was no longer full of myself, and in doing that, I had made room for God. His strength is made perfect in my weakness. Recognizing that, taking in the Truth of His Word, I became truly, perfectly strong... but only in God.

Prayer:

Father,

         Shine the Light on Your Word, rightly dividing it for us to ingest and become like You. We love you, Lord. Thank You for being our strength, our strong tower. Help us to walk in Your Truth. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen