What do you think of our new slide?!? We’re very excited about our new playground equipment at church, and I’ve already seen at least one child try to use this as a slide. I’ll admit, those rock wall holds make it a bad slide…but they make it GREAT for what it is actually designed to be: a climbing ramp.
It’s also easy to look at our own weaknesses as the things that hold us back. “If only I were more outgoing, God could use,” or “If I had a different background,” or maybe “If I had better health or more money, I’d really be able to make a difference.” But that’s not how God works.
It was England’s Oliver Cromwell who asked to be painted “warts and all.” Most people back then wanted every blemish eliminated in a portrait, but he wanted to be painted just as he was. God wants to use you JUST AS HE MADE YOU, warts and all! We should always work to grow past sinful struggles, but weaknesses that are out of our control are exactly what God wants to use.
In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul talks about a physical issue he had. He wanted God to take away this weakness but realized God could use it. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 says, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
You might think your weaknesses make it impossible for you to serve God, but they might be the very things God is using to enable you to be who He wants you to be. Just like Paul, we can rely on God’s strength to use us in spite of (and even because of) our weaknesses. Our weaknesses are opportunities for God to fill in our gaps, for us to rely on His power instead of our own.
Our weaknesses NEVER hold us back from God’s plan for us. We just need to be willing to let God use us, warts and all!
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