What If God Wants Your Weakness?

Speaker A00:00:00

Let me ask you something. What's the one thing about yourself you wish God would take away? Maybe for you, it's anxiety. Maybe it's your past.Maybe it's a failure you still are playing your mind. Maybe it's an insecurity you carry into every single room.Maybe it's a struggle that has followed you for years, something you've prayed about, something you've begged God to fix. Now, here's the question most of us are afraid to ask. What if God already answered that prayer and the answer was no?Not because he doesn't care, not because he's ignoring you, but because the very weakness you want removed is the exact place he plans to reveal his power in your life? What if the thing you think disqualifies you is the very thing God plans to use? So today we're going to explore a radical truth.What if God wants you in your weakness? Hey, friend. I'm Ralph Estep Jr. And this is Truth Unveiled With Ralph.This is a place where we slow down for a few minutes and look honestly at the difference between what our culture says is true and what God's word actually says.Because sometimes the message we hear every day about success, about strength, about what it means to be good enough, doesn't line up with the way God actually works. And when we uncover the truth, it changes the way we see our lives. Let me describe a moment you may recognize. It's late. The house is quiet.But your mind sure isn't. You're laying in bed, replaying the things of the day.You think about that mistake you made, that conversation you wish you could do over again, that weakness you keep trying to overcome. And that tiny voice in your mind starts whispering, you should be further along by now. You should be stronger than this.You should have figured this out already. And maybe you look at other people and it seems like their faith is stronger, their lives are more stable, their confidence is greater.And quietly, you begin to wonder something painful. Why am I still struggling with this? Why does this weakness keep showing up in my life? Maybe it's anxiety. Maybe it is your past.Maybe it's a failure you wish you could just completely erase. Maybe it's that habit you've prayed about more times than you can count. And deep down, you may have even thought this.If I could just fix this one thing about myself, then God could really use me. But what if that assumption is completely backwards?What if the weakness you wish would disappear is actually the place God plans to reveal his power? Because when we open the Bible we discover something surprising. God has always chosen people who are weak to accomplish his greatest work.And once you see that pattern, it changes everything. Culture tells us something very different. Culture tells us to be strong, be confident, be self sufficient. Never let people see you struggle.Never let them see you fail. Never let them see you crack. So what do we do? We curate our lives. We filter our stories.We present a version of ourselves that looks strong on the outside, even when we feel completely fragile, even when we feel afraid, even when we feel like we're barely holding it together. And the pressure to maintain that image, it's exhausting. Because deep down, we know the truth. We're not as strong as we pretend to be.And that's when that voice of shame whispers, you're not enough. You're too broken. You're too weak for God to use. But, friend, the Bible tells a completely different story.And what's interesting is even outside the church, people feel this pressure. Studies show that over 70% of adults experience what we call imposter syndrome at some point in their lives.They constantly feel like they're not enough, they're not smart enough, not capable enough, not successful enough, not spiritual enough. And those feelings don't magically disappear when somebody becomes a Christian. I can tell you right now, they didn't disappear for me.In fact, for me and for maybe you listening right now, they got louder. Because now we start to think that we're supposed to be strong for God. But Scripture reveals something surprising.God does not build his kingdom on human strength. He actually built it on surrendered weakness. So let's go to one of the most honest moments in the entire Bible. This is the Apostle Paul.I talk about Paul all the time. Paul's a missionary. Paul's a church planner. He's the writer of a lot of scripture.I would dare say he's one of the greatest leaders in church history. But yet Paul had something in his life he desperately wanted gone. He called it a thorn in the flesh. Now notice something important.This Moment happens in 2 Corinthians. Now Paul is writing to a church that questioned his very authorities.They compared him to more impressive leaders, more polished speakers, more charismatic personalities of the day. Because the truth is, Paul didn't look strong to them. He certainly didn't look powerful. He didn't look impressive.In fact, earlier in the letter, Paul admits something shocking.And I want to go to that scripture verse right now and from 2nd Corinthians 10:10, and this is what it says for some say his letters are weighty and Forceful. But in person, he is unimpressive. And his speaking amounts to nothing. That's harsh. Imagine that for a second.The apostle Paul being criticized for not being impressive enough. And instead of defending his strength, Paul talks about his weakness. Paul writes about that thorn in the flesh.And that's in Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 7. And this is what he says. To keep me from becoming conceited.Because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, to torment him. But notice what Paul says first. This was given to me to keep me from becoming conceited. Paul had seen extraordinary things.Earlier in the chapter, he described being caught up to the third heaven, a vision of God's glory. These are experiences most believers will never see. And Paul says something surprising. Because of those revelations, God allowed a thorn.Now, you and I might ask, why is that? To keep him humble, to keep him dependent, and to keep him grounded. Now, like me, I started questioning, what was the thorn?We don't know exactly what it is. Scholars have suggested many possibilities. Could be a chronic illness, maybe a vision problem.One argued relentless persecution, maybe spiritual opposition, or maybe emotional suffering. But I think it's interesting that the Bible never tells us the exact answer. And that might be intentional.Because if the Bible named the thorn, many of us would say this. Well, mine's not like Paul's. But instead, the thorn is left undefined. And I believe that's intentional.And I believe it's left that way so that every believer can recognize their own weakness in the story. What's your thorn? Is your thorn anxiety?Is maybe your thorns that past failure, Maybe your thorns that broken relationship, a physical illness, a limitation you just can't change. Something painful, something persistent, something humbling. So how did Paul handle it? Well, Paul did what any of us would do. He prayed about it.Now, this wasn't some casual prayer. This wasn't some one off. He pleaded to God. Let's look at Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 8. And this is what it says.Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. Pleaded. That word pleaded is intense. We don't use that a lot in the English language. It means that Paul begged God. He didn't accept the thorn easily.He didn't celebrate it at first. He asked God to remove it three times. Think about Jesus. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yes, Paul wanted relief.He wanted healing. He wanted freedom. But God gave a completely different answer. Let's Go to that right now. Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 9.And this is what the Lord said. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.This is one of the most important sentences in the entire New Testament. My grace is sufficient. Let's talk about grace for a second. Grace means divine help, God's strength, God's sustaining presence in our lives.And notice what God says next. My power is made perfect in weakness. Now, the Greek word here means to reach its full expression. So what's it telling us?God's power reaches its fullest display not when we're strong, but when we're weak, when our strength runs out. That's when his power becomes visible. Here's a transformation that happens here if you think about it. And suddenly Paul sees this Soren differently.And he writes this in Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 9 and 10, he says this. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me.That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. That statement's completely upside down, isn't it? Think about culture right now.Boasting in weaknesses, delighting in weakness. But Paul discovered he had a secret, that weakness wasn't blocking God's power. Weakness was the doorway to it.See, see, Paul explains this idea again earlier in the letter. And the imagery is powerful. Let's go to second Corinthians, chapter four now. So chapter second Corinthians, chapter four, verse seven.It says, but we have treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. And I think this is a brilliant way that Paul explains this, because picture what Paul's describing. A clay jar.Now, in the ancient world, these were very common household containers. They were cheap, they were ordinary, were easily broken, they weren't decorative, they weren't impressive, they were just clay.Probably something you'd pick up at Walmart today. But Paul says, that's us, human beings, fragile, imperfect, cracked and limited.And yet inside those fragile jars, God places something extraordinary, a treasure. The treasure of the Gospel, the presence of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit. So why does God choose clay jars? Well, Paul explains the reason.And he says this so that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. See, if the container looked impressive, people might admire the container. Well, that's an impressive looking container, isn't it? Oh, look at.It's so nice. Nicely divine, and it's beautifully decorated. But when the container is ordinary, people notice the treasure inside. Think of it this way.If a beautiful spotlight shines through a cracked lantern, no one praises the lantern. They notice the light and see your weakness works the same way. The cracks in your life become the very places where God's light shines through.But there's a paradox here, because the world says, strength produces success. But God says something completely different. God says, weakness reveals glory. The world says to all of us, hide those cracks.And God says, no, don't do that. I shine right through them. The world tells us, fix yourself first. But God says something so much better. God says, come as you are.Because weakness in the hands of God becomes the platform where his power is seen most clearly. And once you understand that, you begin to see something incredible. The Bible is full of weak people that God used powerfully.Well, now let's talk about another person God used through weakness. This is a man named Gideon. And his story begins in one of the darkest seasons in Israel's history. I want to paint a picture for you here.The nation of Israel had turned away from God. And as often happened in the book of Judges, God allowed another nation to oppress them. This time it was Dominionites.And for seven years, they devastated the land. They would wait until Israel planted their crops and then sweep in like locusts.They would steal the livestock, destroy the food, and left the people starving. And the Bible tells us that the Israelites became so afraid, they hid in caves and mountain strongholds. Can you imagine living like that?Living in constant fear, constant scarcity, constant insecurity. And in the middle of all that, just put yourself right there. In the middle of all this, we meet Gideon. Now, Gideon's not leading an army.He's not rallying the nation. He's actually hiding. So let's take a look at this. This is really interesting. We're going to go to Judges.Now, Judges isn't a book of the Bible that I get too often. So it's one that I had to do a little digging into here. Let me get this here. So judges, chapter six, verse 11.And it said Gideon was stretching wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. Now, that detail matters, and here's why it matters. And I had to do a little research into this. You don't normally thresh wheat in a winepress.Threshing wheat happens in open spaces, and it happens there, where wind can separate the grain. From the chaff. But a winepress was a pit. It's hidden, it's low, it's enclosed. And that tells us something.Gideon is hiding in a hole, trying to prepare food without being seen. Why is that? Because he's afraid. He's cautious. He's just barely surviving. And in that moment, God speaks.And the angel of the Lord appears and says something almost shocking. Again, this is Judges chapter 6, verse 12. And this is what it says.When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Here's a guy hiding in a hole. And what does the Lord say? Mighty warrior.And I just put myself in that position because Gideon must have looked around and said, wait, wait a second. Nothing about his situation looked mighty. He was hiding. The nation of Israel was being oppressed. His resources were limited. His confidence was low.But yet Gideon responds honestly. And I just love this. Listen to this response. This is Judges, chapter 6, verse 13. This is what Gideon says.He says, but, sir, Gideon replied, it is, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Now, I don't know about you, but that's a really honest question. Many believers have asked that question. Have you asked that question?I know I've asked it. If God is with me, why is life so hard? And he continues on. He says, where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about?In other words, if God is real, why does everything feel broken? And then Gideon says something that reveals how he sees himself. And we're going to talk about his insecurity.We're going to go right to judges chapter six again, verse 15. And this is what he says. He said, but, Lord, he didn't ask, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.Notice the two things Gideon points to. He talks about his background. My clan is the weakest, not coming from a strong place. And then he gets to his personal ability.He says, I am the least. Think about that. In modern language, Gideon is saying, I'm from the wrong place and I'm the wrong person. Man, I felt that so many times.And from Gideon's perspective, he is completely unqualified. But God does something remarkable. God doesn't debate Gideon's resume. He doesn't say, no, Gideon, you're actually strong.I'll tell you what, if he had said that to me, I'd have been, oh, good, I feel good. God told me I'm strong. But God gives him a promise. In Judges 6:16, God says, this he says, I will be with you.That's all he says, Just, I will be with you. See, God's answer to Gideon's weakness wasn't confidence in Gideon. It was confidence in God.Because the victory was never going to come from Gideon anyway. Let's talk about obedience. Because before Gideon ever leads an army, God gives him a personal assignment.God tells him, tear down the altar at BAAL in his father's house. Now, this was an idol his own community worshiped. Think about it. That's dangerous. His own community was worshiping this.And publicly rejecting the idol could cost Gideon his very light. So Gideon does something interesting. The Bible tells us he obeys, but he does it at night. I'll be honest with you. I've probably done the same thing.Because he's afraid, and yet God still uses him. But notice that Gideon obeys even while being afraid. Friend, faith is not the absence of fear. Faith is obedience in the presence of fear.Now, the story goes on. Eventually, Gideon gathers an army, 32,000 soldiers. Now, that's not massive compared to the Midianites, but it's respectable.Except God says something unexpected. Let's look at Judges, chapter 7, verse 2. When I read this one, this one threw me for a loop. Wait a second. This doesn't make any sense.And he says this. This is Judges 7:2. He says, the Lord said to Gideon, you have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, God says, the army's too big. Seems like a contradiction, doesn't it? Well, why is God saying that? Because if Israel wins, they might just take the credit.But God's protecting his glory. So what does God do? God begins shrinking the army. God tells Gideon this. Send home anyone who's afraid. I'd have raised my hand at that point.And 22,000 soldiers leave. Now, that only leaves 10,000, but that's still too many. So God gives Gideon a strange test involving how the men drink water.And the army shrinks again from 10,000 men to 300 men. Now, this is against an army described in scripture as thick as locusts. Just think about that for a second.He went from 32,000 to 300, fighting an army that's described as being thick as locusts. Humanly, we'd be saying, wait a minute. This. This battle is impossible, Lord. But that's exactly the point.Because now, when the victory comes, not a single person will mistake the source. But it goes A little further. God instructs Gideon's tiny army, 300 people, to carry torches, jars and trumpets.So just picture this, this army, right? 300 men carrying torches, jars and trumpets, not swords, not shields. Torches inside clay jars.And at the signal, they break the jars, blow the trumpets, and shout. And the Midianite army is thrown into confusion. They turn around on each other, and they flee. And Israel wins the battle without traditional warfare.Seems strange, doesn't it? You ask yourself why? Because in the end, the victory was never about military strength. It was about the power of God. So what do we learn from this?Gideon began his story hiding in a hope. He was afraid. He was insecure. He was convinced that he was the wrong person. But God didn't need Gideon's strength. He needed Gideon's willingness.And Gideon's weakness became the stage where God's power was displayed. And see, once you see this pattern, you realize something remarkable. God has always worked this way.Not through the strongest, not through the most impressive, but through people who know they need Him. Well, let's look at another example. And I talked about this one a couple weeks ago. Moses. Most people think of Moses.They picture this confident leader standing in front of Pharaoh, parting the Red Sea, leading the Israelites through the wilderness. But the Moses God called first looked very different. Moses had two completely different seasons in his life.The first 40 years he lived in Egypt, he was raised in the Pharaoh's palace. He was educated in the best schools of the empire. Acts chapter seven tells us he was powerful in speech and action.Now, from the outside, Moses looked impressive. He looked influential. He looked strong. He looked capable. But Moses tried to solve Israel's problems in his own strength, and it got him in trouble.Now, one day, he saw an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew slave, and Moses killed the Egyptian. Moses was trying to bring justice himself. He was trying to be the deliverer.But his plan failed, and Moses had to run for his life, and he fled into the wilderness. And then for the next 40 years, Moses lived as a shepherd, far from Egypt, far from influence, far from any power. Just think about that for a second.The man who once lived in a palace now spent his days watching sheep. Decades passed, and that man who once looked strong now probably felt forgotten. And by the time we reach Exodus chapter three, Moses is 80 years old.He's living in obscurity. He's watching sheep on the backside of the desert. And it's there, in that place of weakness that God appears. Let's go to Exodus.So, Exodus chapter three, verse two. And it says there an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. And we talked about that a couple weeks ago.A bush that's burning but doesn't burn up. A supernatural moment. God calling Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people to freedom. But instead of confidence, Moses responds with hesitation.In fact, he gives God five excuses. And I want to talk about those excuses right now, because these are really important to our faith. Here's the first excuse he gave God.He said, who am I? And in Exodus 3:11, we get that answer. He says, who am I? That I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Who am I?In other words, I am not important enough. I don't have the authority for this. I'm nobody. And God doesn't answer by praising Moses. God answers with a promise. I'll be with you.The qualification. The qualification wasn't Moses strength. It was God's presence. Well, let's look at the second excuse. What if they don't believe me?This is Exodus, chapter 4, verse 1. Moses answered, what if they do not believe me? Or listen to me and say, the Lord did not appear to you? Well, clearly Moses is feeling rejection here.He fears looking foolish. He fears failure. So God gives him some signs, miracles that will confirm that God is the one sending him. But he doesn't stop there.He goes on to excuse number three. I can't speak well. And now this excuse gets very personal. Let's look at Exodus again. Chapter 4, verse 10.Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since. You have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. Now, some scholars believe Moses may have had a difficult speech, difficulty speaking.Now others would say, no, he just lacked confidence. But either way, Moses believed his weakness made him unqualified. And God responds with a powerful reminder. Here's what God says. Exodus 4:11 and 12.The Lord said to him, who gave man his mouth, who makes him deaf or mute, who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go. I will help you speak. Pretty reassuring. God doesn't deny Moses weaknesses. He simply promises him help.See, God wasn't asking Moses to be perfect. He was just asking Moses to be available. But it doesn't stop there. Then we go on to excuse number four. Moses said, send someone else.Now he's saying something very honest. Let's look at Exodus 4:13, the line of excuses, right? But Moses said, oh Lord, please send someone else. To do it. How many times have you said that?It's not for me, Lord. And it's at this point that Moses is overwhelmed. He doesn't feel capable. He doesn't feel strong enough. He certainly doesn't feel ready.And yet God still uses him. But notice the pattern here. Paul had a thorn in his side. Gideon had fear. Moses had insecurity. But God still chose each of them. Why, you ask?Because God's power is not displayed through human strength. It's displayed through surrendered weakness. The man who said I cannot speak became the voice that confronted Pharaoh.The man who ran from Egypt became the leader who walked Israel out of slavery. The man who doubted himself became the one through whom God parted the Red Sea. Not because Moses was strong, but because God was.And once you see this pattern, it becomes impossible to miss, friend. God loves to use unlikely people. God loves to use broken people.God uses weak people because when they succeed, everyone knows the power came from him. And once you begin to see it, you realize something remarkable. The entire Bible is full of this pattern. And this is what's so reassuring to me.God consistently chooses the unlikely, the overlooked, unqualified, the weak. Not because weakness is the goal, but because weakness reveals his power. Let me show you what I mean. Let's talk about David.I call David the forgotten shepherd. Now, when the prophet Samuel came to anoint the next king of Israel, he was sent to the house of Jesse. Jesse had several sons.He had strong sons, impressive sons, leader looking sons. And one by one, they stored before Samuel. But God rejected all of them. And finally Samuel asked, do you have any other sons?And Jesse answered, something revealing. Let's look at First Samuel, chapter 16, verse 11. It says this. There is still the youngest, but he is dead in the sheep gar.David wasn't even invited to the meeting. He was being overlooked. He was ignored. Just a shepherd boy. But God had something powerful. Look at 1st Samuel. 16. 7 says this.The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance. But the Lord looks at the heart. That makes me feel good. The Lord looks at the heart.The shepherd boy was overlooked, became the king of Israel. But then there's Peter. A fisherman, not a scholar, not a religious leader, not a trained rabbi. Just an ordinary fishing man. And Peter had weaknesses.He was impulsive. The Bible says he spoke before thinking. He doubted. And on the very night that Jesus was arrested, Peter did something heartbreaking.He denied Jesus three times. The man who had promised loyalty to Jesus failed publicly.But yet Jesus restored him and that same Peter, who denied Christ, became the preacher who stood on the day of Pentecost and led 3,000 people to faith. His failure did not disqualify him. Grace redeemed him. Let's talk about Mary, a young woman from a small town in a forgotten region, Nazareth.A place so insignificant, people would say, can anything good come from Nazareth? Mary was not royalty. She wasn't wealthy, not influential. And yet God chose her to carry the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Messiah.Why Mary? Here's why Mary. Because God often chooses the humble to carry his greatest purposes. Do you see the pattern? David, the overlooked shepherd.Peter, the failing disciple. Mary, the humble young woman. Gideon, that fearful farmer. Moses, that reluctant leader. And Paul, the suffering apostle.Again and again, God works through people who know they need him. So we have to ask ourselves, why does God work this way? Well, Scripture explains it.If we go to First Corinthians, chapter one, verses 27 and 29, he's going to explain to us. Let me get right there. And it says this. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and to despise things so that no one may boast before him. You gotta love it.God builds his kingdom this way so that when victory comes, not a single person can applaud the human instrument. They recognize the divine power. Friend, right now, if you feel weak, you're not outside of today's story.You're standing right in the middle of the kind of story that God just loves to write. Because that very weakness you wish you didn't have may become the place where God's strength is seen most clearly.Once you understand that truth, something changes inside of you. You stop hiding your weakness and you start bringing it to God. So what do we do with this?Because hearing that God uses weakness is one thing, but living with weakness, that's another. Because weakness doesn't feel inspiring when you're in the middle of. Feels frustrating. Embarrassing for many of us. Shameful.So how do we live faithfully when we feel weak? Let me bring this into some real life. I always want to give you some real life things. Let's talk about it at home.Weakness often shows up most clearly inside of our homes. I could have wrote this section about me. So many of us feel these things. We lose our patience. We say something we regret. Hey.You feel like you're not the parent you'd hoped you'd be? Maybe not the spouse you wanted to be. Maybe you feel emotionally exhausted.Maybe you feel like you're failing in the most important relationships of your life. And the temptation is to hide it. The temptation is to pretend everything is fine.But sometimes the most powerful thing you can do at home is admit weakness. This was hard for me. Took me a long time to understand this. But it's okay to say some words out loud.It's okay to tell your loved ones, I'm struggling today. There were so many times when I had to be strong. And I would never utter those words because I'm the husband. I'm. I'm the dad.I gotta be the winner of all this. But sometimes I had to say, I'm struggling today. Sometimes I needed to say, I need prayer. And I think about my two young boys.There were times when I should have said, boys, I don't have all the answers. And that kind of weakness, that kind of honesty, doesn't weaken a home. It actually strengthens it.And it took me a long time to understand this, because humility creates space for grace. And sometimes your family doesn't need you to be perfect. They need you to be real. They need to see what dependence on God actually looks like.Let's talk about how you play this out at work or in business. Because weakness feels especially uncomfortable when you're responsible for others, when you're a leader, when you run a business.I've been in these positions many times. I used to run a credit Union. I had 30 people that I worked that worked for me. It shows itself when people look for you for direction.Because leadership culture often says leaders must appear confident at all times. I've heard that so many times. But the truth is, authentic leadership is not built on pretending to be strong. It's built on humility.What I have come to find is people don't trust leaders who act like they know everything. There was a time in my career when I thought I had to know everything. I had to be that person in front of them.But what I have come to know is people trust leaders who are honest enough to say things like, guess what? I'm still learning. I need some wisdom here. Well, let's all get together and pray about this. Because weakness, handled with humility, builds trust.It creates space for collaboration. And it reminds everyone that the success of the work doesn't depend on one person's strength, but on God's guidance.But now let's talk about your faith. Because weakness also shows up in our spiritual lives. There are moments when prayer Feels dry when faith feels small.When you wonder to yourself if God hears you at all. And in those moments, the enemy whispers the same lie. Strong Christians don't struggle like this. How many times have you heard that one?But that's not what the Bible teaches. The Psalms are full of honest prayers. David crying out how long Lord Job wrestled with suffering. Elijah collapsing under exhaustion.Even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane crying out in anguish. Friends, struggle is not proof that your faith is failing. Sometimes struggle is proof that your faith is actually real.Because real faith keeps turning towards God, even when the answers aren't clear. And here's the most beautiful thing. That weakness that you wish you could erase may become the very story God uses to help someone else.Your struggle with anxiety might be. Might help someone else feel understood. Those past mistakes you've made might just give someone else hope. And those scars, all of us have scars.They might show someone else that healing is possible. Friend, God wastes nothing. God doesn't waste pain. He doesn't waste failure. And he certainly doesn't waste weakness when surrendered to Him.Even the hardest parts of your story become tools of grace. So let me ask you this question and just think about this for a second. Just take a second and think about what I'm getting ready to ask you.Instead of asking, why am I so weak, try asking this, God, how do you want to use this? Because that question, when you examine your own life, changes everything. Because weakness isn't the end of the story.It might be the place where God is beginning something new. And if weakness has made you feel like you're not good enough for God, there's something important you need to hear next.Friend, can I speak to you personally for a moment? Sometimes weakness does something unexpected. It reveals just how much we need God.And maybe right now, your weakness has reminded you of something deeper. Not just a limitation, not just a struggle, but a distance. A distance between you and God. And maybe you've tried to fix it yourself.Tried to be better, tried to become stronger, tried to clean up your life first. But the message of the gospel is different. God doesn't wait for you to become strong. He invites you exactly as you are.Broken, tired, ashamed and struggling. Jesus didn't come for the strong. He came for me. And he came for you. He came for the weak. He came for people who know they can't save themselves.The Bible says this. He says, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that means that Jesus stepped into our weakness, our sin, our brokenness.And on the cross he carried for us, he paid the price so that we could be forgiven, so that we could be restored, so that we could be brought back to God. And my invitation to you right now is simple. It's not about self improvement. It's not about religion. It's about. It's not about trying harder.It's just about surrender, trusting Jesus with your life. And friend, if you feel God stirring your heart right now, you can respond right where you are. You don't need a stage, you don't need a ceremony.You just need an honest heart. And if you're ready to change that right now, I want you to pray this with me. Lord Jesus, I need you. I admit that I cannot save myself.I bring you my weakness. I bring you my sin. I bring you my failures. I bring you my past. I believe you died for me and rose again. Forgive me, Lord. Wash me clean.Come into my life. Be my Savior. Be my Lord. From this day forward, I trust you. Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, something extraordinary just happened.You are forgiven, you are made new, and you're welcomed into the family of God. And I truly believe that Helen celebrates when one person turns to Christ. And right now, that celebration may be happening because of you.But now I want to give you three simple next steps. First thing, tell somebody. Faith grows stronger when we share it. Second thing I want to encourage you to do is start reading the Gospel of John.It's one of the best places to begin learning about Jesus. Just one chapter a day. And third, this one is super important. Find a Bible believing church. Because faith was never meant to be lived alone.God designed us to grow in community. And friend, if weakness is what brought you to Jesus right now, that weakness became a doorway to grace. Let's pray together.Father, you see every heart listening right now. You see the weakness they try to hide, the struggle they wish would disappear, the failure that still whispered shame.And Lord, you know how heavy that can feel. But right now, we thank you. That weakness is not the end of the story.Your word reminds us that your grace is sufficient, that your power is made perfect in weakness. So for the person who feels discouraged right now, remind them that you specialize in broken vessels.For the one who feels ashamed, replace that shame with grace.For the one who feels too weak to continue, fill them with your strength and help each of us to stop hiding our weakness and start surrendering it to you. Because when we bring our weaknesses to you, Lord, your power is revealed. We give you our struggles, Lord.We give you our fears, our insecurities, our limitations, Lord. And we trust you to work through them. In Jesus name, Amen. I just want to leave you with this friend.Maybe the thing you've been trying so hard to hide is the very place God wants to meet you. The weakness you've been ashamed of. The failure you could not erase. The struggle you wish would disappear.That may be the very place where grace shines the brightest. Because God's power doesn't wait for you to become strong. It meets you right in the middle of your weakness.The Bible never promised that followers of Christ would live perfect lives. But it promises something better. That God's grace is sufficient. That his strength shows up when ours runs out.So right now, you don't have to pretend. You don't have to hide. You don't have to carry your weakness alone. Bring it to him. Let him meet you there.Because weakness in the hands of God becomes the place where power is revealed. So until next time, my friends, stay steady. Stay surrendered. God is not finished in your life. And he's not far off. God bless you. Have a great day.