Introduction
Key biblical truths often seem backward, counter-intuitive,
contrary to common sense—even crazy. Sometimes this is because
they are stated in paradoxical ways—but even when they are
stated in a straightforward way they still strike us this way.
Why is this? Not
because God’s wisdom is irrational or self-contradictory—but
because his wisdom is based on different (higher) presuppositions
(read Isa. 55:8,9). Once we understand and accept his
presuppositions, his wisdom makes perfect sense.
Power through weakness
This morning,
we’re going to explore another key piece of this “backward”
wisdom. See if you can guess what it is by reading these passages:
2 Chron. 26:15,16
– “(King Uzziah) was greatly helped until he became
powerful. But after Uzziah became powerful, (this) led to his
downfall.”
Heb. 11:34 –
“. . . Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David
and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered
kingdoms . . . shut the mouths of lions, quenched
the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness
were made strong . . .”
1 Cor. 1:26-29
– “Consider your calling, brethren, that there were not
many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise,
and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the
things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the
despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that he might
nullify the things that are, that no one should boast before God.”
2 Cor. 12:9,10
– “(God) has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient
for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most
gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the
power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am
strong.”
Did you catch the
aspect God’s backward wisdom revealed in these passages? The
subject is power—and passages like these invite us to ask two
questions: What is true power? What is the relationship between
power and weakness? God’s wisdom gives totally different
answers to both these questions than the world’s wisdom!
Worldly wisdom
says that power is rooted in “natural” resources
(academic, socio-economic, intellectual, political, etc.) and
requires access to them. Since these resources are limited, true
power is always limited to the few.
But God’s
wisdom says that true power comes from him and has no correlation
with access to natural resources. True power is accessible to anyone
who depends on God. Jesus is the personification of this
principle. The early Christian movement had terrific expansion
power—not because they had access to political or academic or
socio-economic power—but because they depended on God
(1 Cor. 1:26-29).
Worldly wisdom
says power requires self-sufficiency. American culture has always
glorified self-sufficiency (“God helps those who help
themselves;” SELF-MADE MAN) and it is no surprise that it is
currently drawn toward self-sufficient spiritualities
(SELF-EMPOWERMENT).
But God’s
wisdom says that power requires realizing and acknowledging your
weakness. The Old Testament hall of fame is filled with people who
“through weakness were made strong.” Gideon’s
secret weapon in defeating the Midianites was his total lack of
confidence. God’s wisdom also says that reliance on (not
possession of) natural resources forfeits power. Uzziah was truly
powerful “until he became (militarily) strong.”
Worldly wisdom
says that powerful people feature/boast about their strengths and
trivialize/hide their weaknesses. Therefore, there is always a
certain posturing and insecurity among the worldly powerful.
But God’s
wisdom says that truly powerful people are well-content with their
weaknesses and even boast about them (not false humility) to others
(2 Cor 12:9,10). Therefore, those who have God’s
power are open about and comfortable sharing their short-comings and
problems.
Worldly wisdom
says that God should alleviate our weaknesses so we can become more
powerful (MOST PRAYER REQUESTS; HEALTH & WEALTH).
But God’s
wisdom says that God allows all kinds of weaknesses so we can become
more powerful. Paul realized that his chronic physical ailment, his
mistreatment by others, and the interruptions and difficulties in his
ministry were the keys (not obstacles) to true power (2
Cor. 12:9a,10b).
This is central
paradox— power through weakness. JAMES STEWART: “It
is always upon human weakness . . . not on human
strength and confidence, that God chooses to build his kingdom; and
he can (do this) not merely in spite of our ordinariness and
helplessness and . . . infirmities, but
precisely because of them. It is a thrilling discovery to
make, and it can revolutionize our . . . outlook.”
Like all biblical
paradoxes, the apparent irrationality vanishes once you understand
God’s presuppositions . . .
The logic of God’s wisdom
It is Christ’s
power that accomplishes God’s will—not human/natural
power.
It is dependence
on Christ (faith) that lays hold of his power—not reliance
on our own power or our ability to get more “natural”
resources. The problem is that as fallen people, we have a deeply
ingrained tendency to rely on ourselves rather than on God.
This is why it is
realization of our utter weakness that cultivates dependence
on Christ. Only when we become convinced that “I
cannot” do we become open/able to affirm “I need you—you
can/must do this.”
Therefore, it is
the difficulties in our lives that convince us of our
spiritual weakness—not the blessings. God usually does not
create these difficulties, but he works through them in his love and
wisdom toward this good end. This is why those who experience
Christ’s life-changing power are thankful for their
difficulties.
Now let’s see how this wisdom works out
practically in two crucially important areas . . .
Christ’s power for salvation
God wants us to
come to Christ so that he can unleash the power of salvation in our
lives (Rom. 1:16)—the power that forgives us of all our
sins, the power to adopt us as his children and indwell us with his
Spirit, the power to seal us eternally in his kingdom. He wants us
to experience the power of salvation so much that he sent Jesus into
the ultimate weakness of the Cross, where this power was unleashed.
Why doesn’t
everyone experience the power of salvation? Not because God is
unwilling, not because certain people are ineligible. The only
thing that keeps us from experiencing the power of salvation is our
self-righteousness &/or self-sufficiency. That’s why
God in his love allows difficulties to come into our lives—so
that we’ll realize and acknowledge our weakness and turn to
Christ for the power of salvation. And the power of salvation is so
wonderful that once we experience it, it so overshadows these
difficulties that we actually become glad that they happened.
I’d like to
say that I came to Christ out of intellectual honesty after a time of
careful inquiry, or because life was so good that I wanted to thank
God for it. But the truth is that I came to Christ because a girl
that I’d put my hopes in rejected me, and that rejection was so
painful that it broke my heart and shattered my self-sufficiency. In
agony, I admitted my lostness to myself and asked Christ (if he was
there) to come into my heart and lead me. His answer resulted in
such transformation that within a year I was profoundly grateful for
that broken heart!
What about you? Are you ready to admit your
weakness to Christ so he can give you the power of salvation? Is
Jesus a crutch for weak people? Yes! We are finite, contingent
people who must lean on someone or something else. The question is
not “Do you need a crutch?—but “How long you will
keep leaning on broken crutches that result in more
serious injury?” How many of these crutches have to break on
you before you are willing to throw them away and ask Jesus to be
your crutch? This is a deliberate, conscious, personal decision to
call out to him in your own words and admit your weakness and need,
and ask him for his forgiveness, adoption and eternal life. He will
answer you, and you will be thankful for this difficulty and weakness
sooner than you think!
Christ’s power for service
Once you come to
Christ and experience the power of salvation, he wants you to
experience his power for service. He wants to pour his power into
your life so that your transformed character draws others to him and
inspires Christians to live for him. He wants to empower your speech
so that when you share the message of his love it becomes a light to
guide people to him and enlightens/encourages Christians in their
walks with him. See Paul’s description of his own power-filled
life in Col. 1:28,29.
There are many
ways that we access Christ’s power—by committing
ourselves to live for Christ and serving others, and by
spiritually feeding ourselves regularly through his Word and prayer
and fellowship with other Christians. But there is
another way that is equally mandatory if we want our lives to be
filled with the power of Christ—the way of difficulties. So
ingrained is our self-sufficiency (even as Christians) that only
difficulties will break our self-confidence and deepen our dependence
on Christ.
This is the lesson
Paul relays (long after he received the power of salvation) in
2 Cor. 12:7-10 . God allows
“thorns” in all of our lives for this same purpose. In
his wonderful book Enjoying Intimacy with God, Oswald Sanders
speaks of four such “thorns.”
Disturbance
– Because of our inclination to let comfort and good fortune
make us spiritually complacent, God allows our lives to be disturbed
so that we are cast back on to dependence upon him. See mother eagle
illustration (Deut. 32:11,12). Do you confess this tendency to
God and ask him to disturb your life to prevent this? When
disturbances come, do you see this good that God wants to bring?
Darkness –
God allows us to go through periods of spiritual depression, when the
sunshine of his love is obscured by dark clouds. One of the most
powerful servants of God, Martin Luther, went through periods of
intense spiritual darkness his entire Christian life. God permits
this in order to deepen our trust (and ultimately our intimacy) with
him.
Disappointment—God
is committed to his will and our best interests for our lives. This
is why his thwarting of our self-centered plans (e.g., make lots of
money, etc.) is an act of love. But in his wisdom he sometimes even
disappoints our plans to serve him (e.g., ministry aspirations not
materializing; ministry failure; etc.)—because he knows we are
not yet ready, or because he has a better role. This drives us to
deeper abandonment to his will and wise plan for our lives.
Inequality—God
allows us to experience difficulties that others (perhaps less
committed) do not have to go through (e.g., teenage rebellion;
serious illness). He sometimes delivers others from difficulties
that he does not deliver us from. Why did God heal others through
Paul, but refuse to heal Paul of his “thorn?” Why did
God release Peter from prison, but leave Paul in prison for over 4
years? Depending on our response, these inequalities may precipitate
resentment toward God—or they may drive us to cast ourselves
more deeply on his loving wisdom so that we often see later the
wisdom of God’s treatment.
How are you responding to God’s current
“thorns?” Are you resenting him for them, compromising
to alleviate them, etc.? Or are you choosing to trust God’s
loving wisdom and asking him to work through them to convince you of
your weakness and deepen your dependence on him? This is the
response that leads to greater spiritual power and gratitude for
God’s wisdom!
Footnotes
Copyright 2003 Gary DeLashmutt