Wednesday 10 May 2017

Admitting Our Weaknesses

Admitting Our Weaknesses


                What’s been on your mind lately? As I write this the

 sun is shining brightly on a Monday morning with the temperature not nearly as warm as it should be. But I am welcoming the sun after the rain has been falling for over 3-4 days. As a write, I am thinking about the extremes of what our world experiences in certain areas and at certain times of the year. In eastern Africa where almost desert conditions exist there has been no rain for several weeks and the draught has caused food crops to dry up. As a result of this there is famine and people are seeking food assistance.  Yet with recent North American storms there has been an incredible amount of rain causing rivers and lakes to swell. Hardest hit are the communities of Gatineau and Oka in Quebec. Army reserve personnel have been flown in to assist the families to evacuate and/or sandbag their property which is be flooded by 2-3 feet of water.
                What do we do? Pray for no rain/ or rain? Maybe we need to check for causes of these extremes and ask for balance rain when we need it, and sunshine other times.  But what does this mean if we are unsure of what to ask for? Is it a sign of weakness or humility in not knowing what is best or is it merely a need to hand everything over to God to deal with?
                Dan Schaeffer’s book The Power of Weakness points out that it is difficult to admit our weaknesses even if these weaknesses are questions which we cannot answer, or prayers we are unsure to ask. 2 Corinthians 11:30 states, “If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.”
                What are your weaknesses? How do you recognize them and do you do anything to let them go or grow in strength? Our fear of admitting weakness is real, but so is the power of God available to us through that very same weakness.

PRAYER
Wonderful God you made us and we know we are both weak and strong because of the gifts you bestow upon us. Help us O God to recognize our weaknesses and then giving them to you, enable us to grow a little bit at a time. Show us O God your way to be strengthened in faith and with hope. Amen.
Reflection based upon Dan Schaeffer. The power of weakness. Discovery House Publishers, 2014, p. 37-59.

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