Weak is the new strong

Weak is the new strong

I’ve heard a few phrases with ‘is the new’ inserted into them. It’s used to say something is the new fashion or has replaced something else.

Fish is the new meat, hair is the new hat, brown is the new black, in this office, jeans and a t-shirt are the new business suit. Age 50 is the new 40. Paul McCartney said that meat-free is the new rock n roll! I prefer the old!

When I started working four days a week at school instead of five, I loved Thursdays. Thursday was the new Friday.

Today we will learn that for the Christian, weak is the new strong. But first, let’s lead into this from the context of some previous talks.

Returning and rebuilding

We have been looking at the first 6 chapters of Ezra which depict a returning remnant from Babylon rebuilding the altar and the temple under the governance of a man called Zerubbabel. We have seen that there has been opposition to the build.

I have drawn parallels between the Old Testament temple and our New Testament understanding that our bodies, and the body of Christ are temples that are to be built up.

Equally, there is an enemy at work to infiltrate, discourage and destroy the building of God’s kingdom.

Thankfully Jesus keeps his promises, and one of those promises states clearly that I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18. We are simply his co-labourers.

Today I want us to focus in on one well-known line in the book of Zechariah which was delivered while the temple was still under construction:

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6

As the temple was being rebuilt, God had to remind his people that it was not by their own might, power or strength that the temple would be built, but by his Spirit. This might seem odd, as it was only a building project. Just bricks and mortar. But it was a spiritual building because it was God-ordained. And that meant that there would be an enemy.

Opposition to the build

The devil does not hinder the work of those who wish to build temples to their own gods, things in their own name, business built just to serve the money-god Mammon.

But when we begin to build something that he has ordained, Satan is up in arms.

Thus, when we build our own temple – our personal spiritual edification and growth, or the growth of the wider body – Satan will surely come against it. We know that there is a spiritual realm and that there are invisible forces at work.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesian 6:12

Precious Dust

In the light of this we may feel pretty weak. And despite our victory in Christ and the fact that we are seated in heavenly places where God has put all things under his feet (Ephesians 1:22-23), in the natural we are pretty weak.

After all, look where we came from:

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

The Hebrew for man is Adam but that word itself sounds like the word for ‘ground’. Man is but dust!

Listen to these words from the Psalms:

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:13-14

These are interesting ideas because I have not so long ago preached on poor self-esteem and the importance of seeing ourselves as God sees us. But the truth is, without him we are nothing.

We are weak, he is strong. But we don’t have poor self-esteem. We may be weak but we are treasured, pursued, loved and cherished by a heroic heavenly father.

The best example of this was pointed out to us by Jesus who told his disciples that we must become like children.

Children

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:2-5.

We are weak, he is strong. And to prove that we can live this way, Jesus himself became a child.

So we have to first of all recognise that we are weak and then secondly, try not to fix that. There are some things that children can’t do, and shouldn’t try. They need the help of a parent.

All things through Christ

The Apostle Paul totally understood this.

I can do all this (or ‘things’) through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

If you’ve been around the church long enough this will be a well-known scripture to you. But do you remember the context? It’s a great verse on its own. But the context is that Paul has learned the secret of being content in all circumstances, whether well-fed or hungry.

Strong tea

The word for strengthen here means to fill with power. I once heard it explained as if it were an infusion of power in that Paul is saying that he can face anything because Christ has infused his strength inside of him. Think about what it looks like when infusing the strength of the tea into the water. It’s simply colourless and tasteless without. There is no strength in it, and I like strong tea!

Light bulbs and self-effort

The thing is, because of this power that needs to be at work within us, anything else is self-works. We need to stop trying in our own strength. Can you imagine a lightbulb trying to manifest light without electricity? We need God’s power inside of us. Then we can do all things through Christ. Don’t be a Christian trying to live without Christ. It’s Christ living his life through you. You have a new power source.

The overprotective parent

Ever heard the expression, “She wraps that child up in cotton wool”? What does it mean exactly? It means being overprotective. And what is the outcome for the child when he or she grows up and eventually leaves home? They are ill-prepared for the realities of the world.

In the same way, God does not always instantly deliver us from problems. He wants to use them to strengthen you, or to build and demonstrate his strength within you.

Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33. God’s way is not usually to pull you out, but to prepare a banqueting table for you right in front of the enemy.

Imagine if he was an overprotective parent. God didn’t rescue three Hebrew boys from the fiery furnace or Daniel from the lions. But they did come out victorious, in the strength of the Lord.

God is not an overprotective parent. He wants to make champions and overcomers out of us. And the only way we can overcome the world is through Jesus who overcame the world for us. It’s his strength, not ours. Weak is the new strong. Daniel did not shut the lions’ mouths and Shadrach and co. did not cool their own furnace. It was the power of God working in their lives that made them overcomers.

Paul’s thorn

In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul writes about the immense trials he has been under – beaten with rods, whipped, stoned, starving, shipwrecked, you name it. And then in verse 30 he says, If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. He could have boasted about his works or as he goes on to write about in the next chapter his amazing revelations and spiritual experiences, but he does not. He boasts in his weakness.

We then read on to learn that God gave him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away and here was the outcome of those prayers:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

What the thorn did was it kept him from using his own strength.

Here’s how the amplified bible puts the same verse:

but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (AMP)

Recognise you are weak!

We have to recognise our own weakness and see them as opportunities for God to move in us and through us. This is not the same as asking God to give us strength to do something we have chosen to do in our own strength! It’s what Hudson Taylor called, “helpless dependence.”

Think about that idea for a moment – helpless dependence. God may have sent a thorn into your side in order to cause you to throw yourself onto his mercy, that his power might dwell in you. Maybe God is asking you to look to him entirely for strength rather than scouring the internet or your own network of Christian friends, or relying on your own strength to make things happen.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

It’s the power of Christ that counts, not your own strength. I’ve heard it said that if even just 1% of you thinks you can do it you’ll focus on that 1%.

Yet Paul was able to say, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Recognise you are weak!

You can do the right things and still be wrong: you might be doing it in your own strength.

Back at the building of the temple, they could have been building in their own strength – it would have been an easy thing to assume. But as with the modern-day temples of our bodies and Christ’s body, it is ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6

Prayer

These are God’s words to you:

“My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (AMP)

God I receive your grace that is sufficient for me.

Your lovingkindness and your mercy are more than enough, always available, regardless of the situation.

I acknowledge and accept that in my weakness, your power is being perfected. It is in my weakness that your power shows up most effectively.

So God I commit today to boast about my weakness, not in a self-deprecating way or out of low self-esteem, but so that the power of Christ may completely enfold me and live inside of me. Let your power be infused in me today as I surrender to you completely in helpless dependence.

Amen.

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