Child of Weakness

Every now and then there are lyrics in songs I have sung hundreds of times that suddenly leap out at me and slap my spirit across it's ethereal face.  A year or two ago it was the carol, O Holy Night.  The line from that song that got me was, "til He arrived, and the soul felt its worth."

Wow.  Think about that for a second.

                                    The soul felt its worth.  When Jesus showed up.

How cool is that?  Yeah, pretty darn cool.  Yesterday it was the song, Jesus Paid It All, the Kristian Stanfill version.  Honestly, either version has the same lyric.  Both are great.  There were three words that leaped out of this song yesterday that really got my attention.  But they are only part of the full thought that redeems those three words.  Those words are of course, the title of this post.

I can hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness, watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

I thought to myself as those lyrics escaped my lips, That is exactly what we are.  What I am.  We are all a child of weakness.  I started to think about my sins.  And they are legion: anger, jealousy, fear, lust, hate, rage, lies, gluttony, selfishness, laziness, fear, pride, self-righteousness, envy, greed, and all that impure stuff.

Fail sauce.  Weakness.

There are many things I am not proud of in my life.  I'm not going for full confessional here.  If you want to talk with me personally, you can email me through my profile and we'll talk.  Some people have been shocked when I've shared some of the things I've done.  I've heard comments such as, "You are not the person I thought you were," or "I'm seeing you in a whole different light."

Let that light be the light of Jesus.  Yes, I am full of sin.  This is not me bragging or trying to claim the title of chiefest of sinners.  Paul can take that one.  Some might look at my past and say, "Well, those things aren't so bad.  Everyone does that."  I hear that a lot.  Versions of "everyone is doing it," or "That's just how things are now."

When did jumping off the cliff with your friends become acceptable?

And when did parents, teachers, mentors and the rest decide they would jump too?  Why do we accept so much that is clearly not good.  Why do we tolerate the intolerable?

Because we are weak.  I know I am.  But that is where the rest of those lyrics come in.

Find in me thine all in all

Me there meaning Jesus.  Jesus is our strength.  The siblings Moses and Miriam sing this after crossing the Red Sea.  (Exodus 15)

The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation.

Think about that.  The Lord is our strength and song.  Is he?  Is he your strength?  Is he mine?  I can only answer for one of those questions.  And it's not yours.  In our weakness the strength of God will show through.  Moses didn't make the sea part.  God did.  Moses knew he couldn't do it.  It is beyond the strength of a human to do that.  But, God told him what to do.  His weakness allowed God's strength to be shown.

So can mine.  So can yours.

God's strength will carry us past our addictions.  He will lift us over our own pride.  He will break down the walls of depression and fear.  His strength transforms our weakness.  Our weakness with God's strength is an incredible story.  A story we can share with others around us.  To give them hope, to see their weakness and allow the strength of God into their lives.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in Joshua 1.  Joshua has taken on the responsibility of leading the Israelites after Moses' death.   God is telling Josh what's about to happen.  What he is going to do.  Joshua has already seen God do some amazing things.  But God still tells this guy, "be strong and courageous."  God tells him three times, and the people even chime in once to make sure it really sinks in.

This passage really took hold of my heart several years ago.  So much in fact that it's the basis for the tattoos I have (in Gaelic - Old Irish) on each arm.  On my left arm is the word Strength, because it is the weaker of my arms, and on the right is Courage because it is the arm I lead with.  Now I know tattoos aren't for anyone.  These words on my arm do not give me strength and courage.  But they remind me that I need strength and courage.  Like Moses, I know that I am weak.  But God is strong.  It is his strength and courage I look to when I see these words.

So in your weakness, like mine, turn to God's strength.  It's in him we find our "all in all."  He is the everything in everything.  He is.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear