3 Ways to Reframe Our ‘Weaknesses’

“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT).

It’s true, I can overthink things. I don’t overthink everything, but I do think about movies for days (my poor family will attest). I can lose a few hours reading reviews about a new face moisturizer or stainless steel cookware. And so, when facing hard or complex life situations and decisions, I know to be especially careful to guard my heart and pray for guidance (Prov 4:23), or I can find myself pulled down into old thought “potholes” and mind spirals.

Where do you find yourself looping? What’s the thing you circle repeatedly?

We all carry patterns, tendencies and habits we’d like to eliminate. And we probably think of them as weaknesses. Maybe you, too, in your longing to become more like Christ, have asked God to remove them, just as the apostle Paul asked God to remove the thorn in his flesh (see 2 Corinthians 12).

But spoiler alert: Sometimes our thorns stay.

That this part of Paul’s story is included in scripture is a kindness of God. We all need this teaching. It’s a comfort for us to know that even Paul had a place of discomfort. And it’s simultaneously a challenge for us to see how he flipped his discomfort into a place of boasting.

Paul boasted in his weakness.

Friend, what if we could stop hiding and feeling ashamed of our weaknesses, too?

A few weeks ago, poet Malcolm Guite said something so profound in a podcast that I had to pause and let it soak in. He said, “It’s okay for us to be human. It isn’t despicable” (Walking with God, Beth Moore + Malcolm Guite).

It’s okay for us to be fully human, without apology. That we are weak is not a place of shame. God created us with limited capacity. God gets us. And then He became one of us. He knows what it’s like to be tired. Cranky. Hot. Hungry. Desperate. In Greek, the word for “weakness” is asthéneia, meaning feebleness or frailty of mind or body. Compared with God’s strength and power, of course, we are feeble.

But being a human with weaknesses isn’t despicable. It’s an opportunity.

God wants us to know that we’re weak. He wants us to know our weaknesses and maybe even hang them out on the line for all to see, because by embracing them, we make space for Him.

When we’re in those tired and tender places, what if we listen for how God whispers kindness to our souls about our weaknesses? In His whisper, we’ll hear “My grace is all you need.” Not strength. Not willpower. Not resolve. Not striving. Just grace.

If Paul asked three times for the thorn to be removed and God allowed it to remain, then we, too, can become more comfortable with our weaknesses – even as we seek to become more like Christ. Our weaknesses make space for God to work. To see our weaknesses as invitations to know God deeper:

1 | Let’s stop fighting to be strong.

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me” (Psalm 138:8 NKJV).

But when I think about weaknesses as places where I’m tender and tired of fighting, it hits differently. Let’s notice our patterns and habits and then, instead of fighting so hard to overcome them, let’s invite God into them. Let’s be honest about the places where we are longing for Him to fix us. Let’s notice the places where we want the mind of Christ to overcome our human failing. Let’s know we don’t want to stay where we are. And then, when we’re faced with the places we fall short, let’s choose to let God fight for us. We can stand with God as His daughters and watch Him work on our behalf (Ex 14:14). When we are content with our weaknesses, we are strong (2 Cor 12:10), because God will perfect that which concerns us (Ps 138:8).

2 | Let’s enthusiastically need Him.

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19 NLT).

Do we truly believe that God will supply all of our needs? Maybe? Here’s a mini-series of questions to check that: Are we hiding our weaknesses? Are we trying to be perfect? Do we like control? When we hide our weaknesses, that’s evidence that we might be trying to be perfect. If we believe we have to be perfect, that means we’re probably trying to control our lives. If we’re trying to maintain control, that means we aren’t trusting God. (Ask me how I know.)

We knock over this line-up of “belief dominos” when we face the underlying truth that we aren’t trusting Him to supply all of our needs. We strive, earn and perform to gain a place, all while God promises to supply all of our needs. But if we know how very good it is to trust Him, we’ll allow ourselves to need Him truly. And that changes everything. Our weaknesses don’t matter when we enthusiastically need Him for everything.

3 | Let’s fall in love with His grace.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9 ESV).

What if we can see our weaknesses, even the uncomfortable ones, as bridges to God’s grace? When we disarm their power over us, we can instead embrace God’s power in us. We can boast about His gift of grace and even fall in love with the truth that His grace is all we need. Let’s fall in love with the God who knows we have weaknesses and lean into the understanding that our weaknesses make space for more of Him.

As Guite said, it’s okay for us to be human. It’s good to need God. Let’s normalize our weaknesses. Let’s make space for God’s power. And fall in love with His grace.