Our Weakness and God's purposes

One of the hardest truths for us to accept from Scripture is that our weakness and our failure does not negate the promises and purpose that God has for our lives.   Yet we are often tempted to believe that somehow our brokenness and weakness disqualifies from ever being used by God.

The church of Corinth was a group of believers who were tempted to believe this.  But the Apostle Paul wrote this to encourage them in his first letter to the Corinthians 1:26-28, “consider your calling… not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many of you were powerful, and not many of you were of noble birth…"

"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.  God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.  God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.  God chose the low and despised in the world even the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are.”  Why?  “So that no human being may boast in the presence of God.” 

In Jeremiah 9:23-24 we read a similar reminder directly from God Himself, “Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom and let not the rich man boast in his riches and let not the mighty man boast in his might, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows and understands me.” 

I can’t even tell you how many times I have heard a person say that they would come back to church after they get their act together.  At the root of that way of thinking is the idea that if they somehow get their lives “together” then God would accept them. 

It might be a struggle with alcoholism or drug use, a toxic relationship, the instability of unemployment, the settling into a new home, the birth of a new child or the 101 other things that can make life down right messy.  Some falsely say, “only when these problems go away,” will I commit to following God seriously.  For certainly God doesn’t want my messy life.  But this is wrong thinking. 

Going back to Corinthians now, God chose the low and despised in the world even the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no human being may boast in the presence of God.”  This is goodnews for many of us who are broken and feel our weakness deeply.

Listen to the goodnews of the gospel.  When a group of religious leaders went to his disciples and asked, “Why does your teacher eat with sinners?”  Jesus responded, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mark 2:16-17)    Goodnews for all of us who are sinners, whom Christ came to die for that we may have relationship with God and be used by Him.