Day 35: God's Power In Your Weakness

Our New Years Praise services started tonight. We call it fuifuilotu in Samoan. It's a wonderful way to kick off the year. This is the time when members of the church get to stand up in front of the congregation and encourage each other and give messages of hope and words of advise for the new year. I learned a lot tonight and feel fired up for the new year. Praise God.

Points to Ponder: God works best when I admit my weakness.

Verse to Remember: "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Question to Consider. Am I limiting God's power in my life by trying to hide my weaknesses? What do I need to be honest about in order to help others?

The verse to remember for this chapter is one of my favorite verses from the bible. My nephew passed away about 14 years ago. It was the most traumatic thing to happen in my family's life until that point. He was two and a half years old going on 20. He brought so much joy and love to our family. The first grandchild. And then in an instant, he was gone in a tragic accident. My family was devastated. We were grieving for my brother and his wife, but we were also grieving for ourselves. One of the things that stands out to me about the whole ordeal was the strength my father showed. They say one of the hardest things to do in life is to bury a child. But I think my dad had a harder task. He had to bury a grandchild. He not only grieved for his grandson, but more so for his son. And he had to officiate at the burial.

His theme for the funeral was this passage by Paul. He said God's grace is sufficient for us. At the time I was thinking, no it's not. Nothing is sufficient to take this pain away. But as time went on, I realized how powerful and correct those words were from Paul. The pain has never completely gone away, but God's grace was and is sufficient for us. I know His grace enabled the healing process to begin. In the midst of our pain, His grace shone through the love and support of our family, our friends, and especially our church.

When I read this chapter, I thought about that. I tried to be strong for my brother and family. But I realized that weakness is not something bad. Showing our vulnerabilities allows God to heal us and use us for His purposes. The world teaches us the opposite. That to show weakness is bad, because it allows others to take advantage of you. But God doesn't operate that way. He says our most effective ministry comes out of our deepest hurts.

One of the ladies at our praise service last night said that 2009 was a rough year for her. She lost both her husband and her mother. But she holds no grudges. She's not angry. The pain is real, but she said that the love from her church and community is stronger than the pain. Then she closed out her testimony by singing the classic hymn, A Sousou le Vasa. It's a Samoan hymn that says when the seas are rough, and you feel like giving up, think of what Jesus has done and you'll be amazed that He can carry you through. What a powerful testimony of the love of God. Through her pain, she realized that His grace was sufficient for her. Be blessed.