1 Samuel 2:4

The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
1 Samuel 2:4

Oftentimes, the knowledge of our own weakness can lead to despair. We stumble along with an honest desire to please God, only to find we come up short. Overwhelmed by the reality of our own weakness and inability to complete the simplest task for the Lord, we are tempted to despair and walk away from Him who called us. What do we do when it seems as if we are constantly failing the purposes of God?

Warren Weirsbe once stated, “Strength that knows itself to be strength is weakness, but weakness that knows itself to be weakness becomes strength.” Oh, weak and weary child of God, stumble no longer, for you are beginning to learn the mystery of weakness and the power of failure. For it is in the times the Lord allows you to feel your own weakness that your heart begins to plead for His strength. Was not one of Paul’s greatest revelations wrought through the despairing knowledge of his own weakness?

It was at this moment that the great apostle pleaded for deliverance, only to find that true deliverance came through the knowledge of God’s strength. “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). God’s strength is always available and never failing. Weak and weary Christian, stumble no longer! Gird yourself with His strength. Fret not, “The Lord is close to all who call upon Him” (Psalm 145:18).

Pastor Wade O’Neill