In Abiding in Christ, Andrew Murray states something I’ve been thinking about for the past few years. Curiously, when I pray for God to strengthen me, He puts me in a position of more weakness. Sometimes, it’s putting me in the hospital; sometimes it’s a delayed or canceled flight; sometimes it’s a disappointment, a sudden change of plans, or a hard situation. Murray writes that we’ve been thinking about God’s strength all wrong. He writes, “When [God strengthens], it is not by taking away the sense of weakness, and giving in its place the feeling of strength. Not at all. Rather, in a very wonderful way he leaves and even increases the sense of utter impotence; along with it He gives them the consciousness of strength in Him. . . ”
This comforts me because it’s a fresh way of looking at discouraging events. Has God increased our weakness so we can know His strength alone? Murray quotes 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: “When I am weak, then am I strong; I boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me.” I’m no longer surprised by weakness. It’s the pathway to strength in Christ.