When Muscling Through Isn't Enough

-Maria Enns

I received a devotional called “He Is Strong” from a friend and have been going through it this past month. One of the questions the author asks is: “In what area of your life are you tempted to muscle through and handle heavy things by own strength?”

Ha, I thought to myself, in ALL the areas. 'Muscling Through' is the theme song of my life. The trouble is that, for most of my life, it has worked really well. Physically, I could move fridges or king-sized beds all on my own, with a little time and determination, and I’ve been just as mentally strong, forcing myself through the hard stuff, not stopping to wallow in disappointment or hurt. Just get over it already, right?!

Only in the last ten or so years have I been learning the limits of my strength. I cannot move heavy furniture on my own anymore, without pulling some obscure muscle or dislocating something in my neck. And then there are less tangible things that are also proving to be beyond my strength.

I am finding that I don’t have solutions or action plans for all the troubles I face, the parenting things, all the repeated hurts and heart issues. More times than I can say, I have had to admit that I don’t have the answer, and honestly, I have wallowed in my hurts and disappointments and have found it hard to move through them. But this weakness has given me access to something that I never had to rely on in any real way before.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Paul says,  

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.

Paul is talking about weakness in suffering for Christ, but these verses reveal a universal truth—a  paradox of Christianity—that when we are weak, we are strong.

Admitting honestly to myself that I am stuck has allowed God to do what I cannot. He has been able to show me relief in letting go of my stubbornness to find my own answers, to prove my strength and capacity and resourcefulness. He has shown me how to find rest in the knowledge that He can do so much more and such a better job than I can—at reconciliation, at healing, at renewal. He is the only one who has the power to save me and uphold me. And that is why I can be thankful in my weakness, and why I praise God for His goodness, His mercy, and His power.