Ashley’s Journal: A Broken Stem
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.’ Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
( 1 Cor. 12:9-10 )
On my walk today, I came across a small patch of flowers. As I knelt down I found one flower in the bunch, hunched over with a broken stem. Still beautiful, fully bloomed, but no longer strong enough to stand straight on its own anymore. I stood there for a moment contemplating over how often I actually felt like that flower appeared. I imagined at one time that flower stood tall in all of its beauty and glory. Something for any passerby such as myself to admire.
O, how often I have felt as though all it would take was just one gust of wind to break my stem until I no longer could stand on my own. It may take a strong hail storm blowing through to break us, but other times it may just be as simple as a small gust of wind. The toils and cares of this world that press upon us until we no longer have any luster left. Years of taking abuse, facing opposition, and hitting walls can become a crushing weight on our shoulders.Those are the things that break our spirit until we are in danger of hoping no more.
Too often in my life, I’ve struggled with placing more importance on what other people’s opinions are of me than God’s. I’ve spent moments of living in constant-tormenting fear over what people really thought of me. Even in Proverbs 29:25 it explains, “The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.” But even in knowing that truth, the struggle has always been there to please others and put on a brave face even in the midst of constant fear and insecurity inside. One thing is for certain, it’s a hindrance. Each of us have our own weaknesses and hindrances. As Christians, we feel the constant pressures of putting on an image of perfection in the midst of other believers. All the while deep down struggling with feelings of inadequacy, not measuring up, and becoming a failure. These are the things we tend to not speak of and are ashamed of. Yet these are the very things we should not be ashamed for now we are in a place that God intended us to be.
I’m constantly needing the reminder that God’s power is displayed most effectively through weakness, brokenness, circumstances, obstacles, hindrances, and that should give us courage. God has shown me that in relying heavily upon Him and admitting my weaknesses I affirm God’s strength. God does not despise weak or broken people. Life will provide us with many set backs and obstacles. Even Paul faced self sufficiency head on. The bible tells us that he prayed three times for God to heal him and take away the thorn from his side. He still did not receive the healing he prayed for. But God NEVER abandoned him. It wasn’t that He wasn’t listening to his prayers either. God knew that there were lessons far greater to learn than if He would’ve just taken it away. He received grace from God, humility, the ability to empathize with others, and stronger character traits. It also benefited those from around Paul who clearly saw God at work in his life.
The world tends to teach us that weakness and limitations are things to despise and look down upon. We become ashamed and hindered when we fall prey to this lie. Because we were not made to be strong on our own. We were built with a need for dependence. A need that only our Maker can fulfill.
You may feel like the image of that flower, broken, hunched over, unable to stand straight and tall on your own. A moment where the beauty that God has placed within you seems as useless as that flower seemed. Is all hope gone for the flower even in its helpless state? No. Even the stem of a flower can heal. It takes something strong to come along, envelop it, and hold it steady in its need. Although, in the apparent weakness, the flower was no less beautiful in its current state. There was something so magnificent at work and beautiful in its need. Nothing had been taken away, but a gift had been given. And just as the flower, we need a strength that comes not from ourselves. We need enveloped in our moments of weakness. And in our apparent weakness, we are no less beautiful. Nothing has been taken away from us, but in our limitations God has given us a gift. In our complete reliance, this is God’s grace.
When we experience our thorn, we may pray for God to take it away or remove it from the path, but God does not always do so. When we are strong in our abilities we are tempted to rely on ourselves other than Christ. When we are weak, we allow God to fill us with His power and therefore we are stronger than we ever could be on our own. Someone who has total reliance upon the Lord can be confident in knowing that He will defeat any odds against us. He will break down strongholds and obstacles. He will push us past all hindrances. No matter what the odds or how impossible life may seem- it’s by God’s strength, power, and might that He will take you beyond all human limitations. “God says……… ‘ You will not succeed by your own strength or power, but by my Spirit: says the Lord All-Powerful.” ( Zech. 4:6 )
