Is perfected

“My grace is sufficient for you for my power is perfected in weakness”  2 Corinthians 12:9

Is perfected – God never does anything without a purpose.  He is not the author of random acts of kindness.  He has a goal in mind.  That is exactly what He means with this word (teleioutai):  to reach the intended goal, to be completed.  God says, ” I have a goal.  It is the demonstration of my ability exercised through the your weakness.  I have chosen to use this channel for my own reasons.  This is not about you.  It is about Me.”

Do you want to see God’s goals accomplished in your life?  Be very careful how you answer.  God tells us that if we truly want to see Him express His purposes in our lives, we better get comfortable with our insufficiency.  We better get used to the no-credit position.  We better truly embrace our inability.

This flies in the face of the cultural obsession with self-improvement and self-fulfillment.  Our world pursues personal perfection as if life itself depended on it.  How many times have you heard the invitation to find your destiny, to discover your true potential, to maximize your life?  In a world that proclaims the glory of personal power, embracing weakness as the opening for God’s action is not very appealing.  And don’t imagine that you can play a mind game by saying, “Well, I’ll humble myself and be weak so that God will fill me with His power.  Then I’ll be strong.”  God isn’t so gullible.  You don’t have a starring role in this play.  When you are ready to be the backstage unrecognized nobody, God puts on the show.  But it’s His show all the way.  He is perfecting His power, not ours.

Today is the right time to do a little self-check.  The new year has just begun.  Take a pause before you throw yourself back into the mad rush for recognition.  Ask yourself if you are trying to play a part on the stage of your life or if you are completely comfortable being on the sidelines so that God can occupy the stage?  Ask yourself if you are ready to be the water boy on the team instead of the quarterback?  Ask yourself if you can take the janitor’s role in your life instead of the CEO?  Is your life about who you are?  Or is it about stepping aside so that God can be Who He is?

“I am accomplishing my intended goal for my power through your weakness”, says the Lord.  Try to get out of the way.