JRM Sison Chapter - Teachings - Gaining Power through One's Weakness

REALITY BITES:

     Most people nowadays are seeking power through one’s strength. Bodybuilders build their muscles trying to get power. They boost their strengths to boost their power. Nobody ever thought that one’s weakness could ever gain power.

     Many Christians are afraid to serve the Lord due to their weaknesses. They thought that their weaknesses will be more of a hindrance rather than an asset.

     Another problem that most Christians face is the problems that they encounter. Christians are questioning why they are experiencing problems, sickness, poverty or tribulation even if they are serving the Lord. They thought they did something wrong or have a hidden sin that was not confessed with the Lord. They thought that they could no longer serve the Lord because of the problems that they suffer.

                                                              How could one’s weakness be of help to God?

I.     God uses our weakness/problem to test our faith
     Arrogance is the thing that destroys the good that is done. Sometimes in our lives as servants of the Lord, we (unknowingly) begin to hug the glory that is supposed to be given to God. Sometimes one’s humility becomes false. False humility causes many Christians to fall from God’s grace. How come? Due to the fact that everything must be done for the glory of God, but in this case it is not. It is grabbed by us, unknowingly.
          Examples:
               a.     Worship Leading
               b.     Preaching
               c.     Answered Prayer
     God is a caring God. But He is also a jealous God. He doesn’t want us to commit such false humility. Like Paul, God has allowed a messenger of Satan to give him a “thorn in the flesh”. This is a kind of sickness that checks him to go the right path. Though the sickness that he had was not known, this sickness became his weakness.

II.     God uses our weakness/problem to develop dependence
     Many of us never ever looked through the eyes of God. We always wanted to see the brighter side of life through our eyes. That is why when problems come our way, if our weaknesses stand in our way to serve the Lord, we begin to shrink back and stop serving Him. We even tried to barter with the Lord, asking Him many times to get rid of the problem and the weaknesses in turn for our service. Or we even qoute verses and examples from the Bible like the life of Hezekiah just to bargain with the Lord. We pray sometimes, “Lord, remember me how I have become a faithful servant of yours. Please rid me of my problems and weaknesses. Amen.” I am not saying that you should not barter with or pray to the Lord. What I am saying is sometimes our prayers are not answered according to what answers we expect.
     Paul did barter with the Lord three times. But the problem was not the sickness. There was no problem at all. In our sight we see the problem. But in God’s sight He sees grace that He gave us. He knew that His grace is sufficient. He uses us according to what He sees fit not according to what we behold.

III.     God perfects our strength through our weakness
     I, for one, have major flaws in my system. For one, I stutter and could not pronounce the letter ‘R’ very well. I have been a laughing stock when I was in school. You couldn’t put me on a microphone or a phone to make a long speech. People will just burst to laughter because of my condition. Another is that I couldn’t sing nor play the guitar that well. My friends were laughing at me because my voice is like croaking frog. That is why you couldn’t put me in a videoke machine to sing even “bahay-kubo” because of this. Those were my weaknesses; those were my thorns in the flesh.
     But look at me now, through the grace of God, I am serving Him through pastoring our local church and I am preaching for His greater glory and you are seating down listening to His messages through my weaknesses. I am also the worship leader and guitarist in our local church and God is using me through my weaknesses. My strengths have been amplified through my weaknesses.
     Paul considered his weakness as a catalyst for his strength. He considered that through the use of his weakness for God’s glory his strength has been made perfect, allowing him to serve God much more effectively.

IV.     God uses our weakness/problem to discover our potentials
     How then could we conquer our weaknesses and the problems in our lives? I have a saying, “Acceptance is better than cure”. If you accept who you are then you have accepted what you are capable of. If you accept the weaknesses and problems in your life then you are ready to be used by God for His greater glory. How to accept our flaws? Just live a life of obedience and follow the instructions of the Lord. Through there you could overcome and be a victor for Christ. You might find out in the end that your hidden potentials are actually your weaknesses.
     Paul has accepted his weakness. The power of Jesus Christ rested upon him because he glory in his infirmities.

V.     God uses our weakness/problem to complete our joy
     Never consider your weakness as a sign of defeat, but rather as a sign of much victory through responsibility that the weakness could give. The best thing to do to accept one’s weakness/ problem is by taking joy towards it. It is only through this that we as Christians will know the meaning of grace coming from God.
     Paul took pleasure in his infirmities, knowing that through taking joy he will strengthen his weakness then his strengths will be made perfect.

VI.     God uses our weakness/problem to develop our trust in God
     Trust is the key goal here. Through one’s trust in the Lord, man will find pleasure in his weakness, reproaches, necessities, persecution and distresses. Believing in God is one thing, but trusting His plans for us is another.

WEAKNESS GIVES VICTORY:
     Weaknesses, problems, concerns, troubles all these are thorns in our flesh. God allows it for us to be faithful, to develop dependence, to perfect our strength, to harness our potentials, to complete our joy and to develop our trust unto the Lord.

     I appear, in front of you, a weakling. I look not what I can say. My appearance deceives my abilities. Look at yourself. Do you see your strengths…. or your weaknesses? Sometimes a white cloth remains unnoticed. You won’t notice it’s whiteness until there’s a dirty spot on it. Only then will you appreciate its whiteness. Why; the dirt amplified the whiteness. Our own weakness, our problems amplify our strengths; just as dirt amplifies the whiteness of the cloth. God loves to use our weakness to amplify Himself in our person. God loves to be noticed. And He wants to be noticed through us because we are His children.