Strong in weakness
Paul's thorn in the flesh
Paul carried a painful, unnamed thorn in the flesh, and three times he begged God to remove it. The answer he received was not relief but a reframe: my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. The weakness was not an obstacle to God's power; it was the very place that power would rest.
So Paul made a counterintuitive decision: rather than hide his weakness, he would boast in it. When I am weak, he concluded, then I am strong. He had been with the Corinthians, by his own admission, in weakness and fear and much trembling — and that was exactly where Christ's strength showed up.
“When I am weak, then am I strong.”
— Paul — 2 Corinthians 12:10 (WEB)
Acknowledged weakness is where Christ's strength rests. Stop hiding your weakness — it is the very place his power shows.
“I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.”
Paul stopped hiding his weakness and boasted in it, because Christ's power rested there. A leader formed here owns his weakness rather than masking it, trusting grace to be sufficient. He finds strength on the far side of admitted insufficiency. The inner work is letting weakness be the place Christ is strong.
Admit your weaknesses rather than projecting invulnerability, and watch for Christ's power there. Lead from dependence on grace, not from a performance of strength. Make it safe for your team to acknowledge weakness rather than hide it. Treat insufficiency as the doorway to God's power, not a disqualification.
Leaders hide weakness to look strong, assuming strength qualifies them, and so cut themselves off from where Christ's power rests. The blind spot is masking the very weakness that grace would fill.
Name one weakness you have been hiding to look strong. This week, acknowledge it honestly — to God and one trusted person — and ask for Christ's power to rest on you there.
Leaders work hard to hide their weaknesses, assuming that strength is the thing that qualifies them. Paul did the opposite — he boasted in his weakness, because that was the very place Christ's power rested on him.
What weakness have you been hiding to look strong — when admitting it might be exactly where Christ's power could rest on you?