We are Weak

Written November 13, 2007:
I got a phone call a few minutes ago. A friend who thought she’d hit the lowest point possible had a few hundred other things hit her and the bottom dropped out of the bucket thrusting her into an abyss full of so much pressure, stress and darkness that it looked impossible to pull herself up.

Some of her struggles, I don’t completely comprehend – I’ve never been there. Some of them I can certainly identify with. But even though I can sympathize, I still felt helpless as all that one can truly do in these types of situations is to listen with an understanding ear. And sometimes that doesn’t feel like enough.

And then you always wonder, WHY? What is to be gained from an experience like this? And while I worked around the house, praying for strength for her today, an old song came back to me. One that most of us undoubtedly learned at our mother’s knee or in Sunday School. It’s just that back then we visualized a very small “us” and GREAT BIG God physically, not really truly comprehending the meaning. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so; little ones to Him belong, WE ARE WEAK BUT HE IS STRONG.” And now that we are older and need it, we so easily forget that little phrase there at the end. But it is so true. His strength is truly made perfect in our weakness. Sometimes He allows our world to fall apart for no other reason than to show us that we aren’t really Wonder Woman. It is Him working through us – His strength shining through our weakness – that turns our attempts into successes. We need to be reminded of that occasionally so we don't allow our achievements to give us a big head. Sometimes it's to bring us to the realization that we don't have to do it all to be good enough. Sometimes it's to make us realize we can be a wonderful woman without being Wonder Woman. Because it’s not our super powers but God’s that makes up the difference. (And I've been there a lot in the last year.)

Whatever the WHY, and even if you never see the WHY, remember, His strength is perfect when our strength is gone.