Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
Sometimes it is so hard to trust God. We know He is good. We know He answers prayer. But it can be difficult to trust Him–especially when we are trusting Him for others. Praying for intervention in family members can often be a struggle. Our eyes can get bound to the need–especially if we feel there is an urgency about the situation. We can begin to question ourselves why doesn’t the Lord intervene, leaving us feeling weak in our faith.
I know I am not alone in this tension…in fact I had three different conversations this week about this issue. Different situations–but enough a like that reminded me we all face similar challenges. It is one thing to say we “trust” Him, but another thing to walk out longer issues. It reminds me of the story of Abram and Sarai (Genesis 15-21). Facing difficult situations can cause us to feel weak, grow frustrated and doubt. Abram was 75 when he was called, Sarai was 65. I can only imagine how excited, shocked and curious about God’s promise to them about this predicted child. Then the waiting began and all of life continued.
I don’t know if it still a “thing” but we used to use a phrase “praying through”. When we are praying for change with a child who struggles with addiction, a ministry where you preach your heart out, you love them to the best of your ability but you don’t see growth or progress. You spend time interceding for your young adult, believing God is going to show up for them, but the trial keeps on going. The enemy can make us feel weak and wimpy and doubtful. Oh my friends, feeling weak is not the same as being weak. We must keep praying and building ourselves up in our most holy faith. (Jude 20-21)
Weakness can cause us to either move toward the Lord or away from Him. He means for us to move toward Him, lean on Him even more. We find Gideon, hiding in the winepress from the Midianites, declaring: Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. He felt small, weak and insignificant. But our God spoke back to him, but I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. Judges 6:15-16. ESV. Gideon went on to lead a small but powerful few to victory–as he followed God’s instruction. Weakness often reveals areas of pride. These prideful areas can sabotage God’s greater work in and through our lives. Humility is one of God’s best tools.
If we feel weak we need to do an assessment. Have we rightly discerned the Lord’s body? 1 Corinthians 11:30 instructs us to: let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. I know there are different interpretations of this scripture, but I know when I find myself feeling dishonoring towards another church or group, I feel weaker. I have come to understand that it is His body, His church and He loves and cares for each person. Subtle attitudes of superiority or judgement weaken our own selves whether we comprehend it or not.
Paul’s encounter with his own weak areas are so encouraging for each of us. As I re-read 2 Corinthians 12:8-10: 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. Paul learned how to allow the power of Christ work through him because of his weaknesses. This is something I am learning as well. He goes on to say: 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. I don’t think I have learned to take “pleasure” in the trivial troubles I have suffered…but I am trying. There are many who are suffering hardships and persecution, please pray for them to learn how to walk through such difficult situations.
Abram and Sarai ended up 25 years later with a beautiful baby boy. Our stories will also have a resolution as we keep walking in His strength, His way. If you are feeling weak in your faith today my friend, get back in the Word. Put on some praise and make Him bigger than your problem, then you will learn the blessing of your own weakness. We also must remember: We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Romans 15:1 ESV.
Father, thank you for letting Abram, Sarai, Gideon and Paul walk through situations where they needed to trust you. Thank you we can gain strength from their stories as others will gain strength through ours. Help us persevere in spite of our perceived weak areas. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
