Written by Michael Kelley, Guest Contributor
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4
You could rightly use many adjectives to describe the Christian life. Joyful, satisfying, and hopeful are a few of them. Then, some are equally true yet a little more difficult to accept. Words like arduous, disciplined, and troubled fit here. And in that long list of adjectives sits one more that perhaps you haven’t considered recently: Ironic.
When a situation is ironic, it means that what it appears on the surface is far different – and maybe even the opposite – deep down. Irony is a contradiction of what is visible and what is real. While that description doesn’t fit around things like “rain on your wedding day” or “a free ride when you’ve already paid,” it does fit alongside the Christian experience.
Because for the Christian…
The mourners are comforted.
The empty are filled.
The least are the greatest.
These things are all true about the kingdom of God, for that kingdom is, in many ways, an upside-down kind of kingdom because what is true is not what appears to be true. There is one irony of the Christian life that we would do well to remember today, though, and that is for the Christian, weakness is strength.
JI Packer, in his classic work Knowing God, describes that dynamic like this:
“God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly —that is, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak—is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace.”
Packer is referencing here the experience of the apostle Paul, who had some kind of “thorn” in his flesh – some kind of persistent ailment that, though he prayed to the Lord to take it away, nevertheless remained. And for Paul, this reminder of his weakness became the catalyst for his growth and strength in Christ:
“Three times, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
Here is true irony: The greater our awareness of our own weakness, the greater our opportunity to lean on Christ. And through that leaning, the stronger we become. In Christ, those who freely acknowledge and deeply feel their own weakness are the ones who are spiritually mighty in Him.
What an incredible contrast to the definition of strength we find in the world. In the world, strength is measured by our ability to do things on our own. By ourselves. By our own intelligence or ingenuity or physical presence. Those are the truly strong people in the world. But here again, we find another irony because even those considered, in the eyes of the world, to be most self-sufficient and therefore strong are just as weak as all the rest of us.
They, too, are only upheld by the grace of God.
They, too, only have breath because God sees fit for it to be so.
They, too, are only held together through God’s common grace.
These strong people are weak. They just aren’t aware of it.
But for us Christians? Weakness is something to be rejoiced in. Our physical ailments? Our shifting emotions? Our penchant for anxiety? These are all opportunities for us to rejoice. We don’t rejoice because we are this way; we rejoice because every one of those weaknesses is a chance for us to consciously lean harder and harder on the strength of Jesus. This is the irony of the Christian life.
If you’re feeling weak today, take heart. Your weakness is an opportunity. Lean hard on Jesus and know that when you are weak, through His power, you are strong.
DIG DEEPER
Read “In What Ways is Being a Christian Difficult?” at GotQuestions.org
