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 in 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 12:9-10 [NIV]

When I was interviewing for my current job, I remember one of the final questions I was asked was, “What is your greatest weakness?”

Being the egotistical person I was, I didn’t want to admit that I had any weaknesses. Even more so, I wasn’t sure how to navigate answering that question without making myself seem like I was either avoiding the essence of the question or without making myself seem entirely unqualified for the job.

I sat there awkwardly mumbling “Umm…” for a few minutes while the interviewer sympathetically told me to take my time, and I finally offered up that my greatest weakness was cooking. I’m not a mindreader, but I don’t think my interviewer was impressed by my answer.

Needless to say, I still got the job (by some miracle), but I still look back on that interview as a pivotal moment that started to wake me up to just how prideful I can be.

By Grace, Through Faith

Originally, I only focused on the first part of this verse, 2 Corinthians 12:9 – it was comforting for me at the time, and I didn’t even stop to think about how powerful the second portion of the verse is. In this first section, Jesus reminds us that His grace is all we need. Our own merit is not required for us to be able to harness God’s power.

I am reminded of this constantly in my day-to-day life, in everything from running, to death diving, to my spirituality. God makes incredible things happen when I put my walls down and admit where I am flawed. Nowadays, I will gladly boast about what a terrible runner I am. Seriously, I am not cut out for it. By week four of my marathon training last year, I had already developed a stress fracture. Right now, I probably couldn’t run a mile in less than eight minutes, despite running several miles four times per week. Nonetheless, God has used this uphill battle to highlight what He can help us flawed humans do – even though my marathon training was 95% done on a stationary bike and less than 5% done actually running, I still finished the marathon I set out to accomplish last April. In November, I took it a step further and completed a grueling ultramarathon in the California mountains, even though I was still plodding along through my training runs, slow as a slug.

Though once upon a time I would have tried to hide the fact that I was NOT putting forth impressive race performances, I can admit now that it certainly wasn’t my talent or athleticism that emboldened and enabled me to complete these races – it was solely my faith. I believed that since God gave me these incredible opportunities, He would give me the wherewithal to endure them. And that, my friends, He delivered on.

Weaknesses, Insults, Hardships, Persecutions, & Difficulties

As I alluded to earlier, the second portion of this verse, 2 Corinthians 12:10, is incredibly powerful. It specifically calls out situations that we typically feel most vulnerable in, but God that gives us the strength to handle.

Though not all weakness are as obvious as my blatant ineptitude for running, we still face weakness in various difficult circumstances, no matter how brave, capable, and physically inclined we are. For instance, when we face insults or persecution, our insecurities can rear their ugly heads in the form of a nasty reply or a festering internal hatred toward our persecutors. Furthermore, even the fittest of people can be crushed under the load of a heavy weight or a challenging trek in desert heat. In all of these situations, how we respond when our weaknesses are revealed tells us much about our relationship with Christ. It’s not about whether or not we give up or continue to fight – it’s about how we use our faith to overcome the hurdle. Do we lean into God for the strength to soldier on, heal our heart, or conquer the challenge? Or do we look at our weaknesses as something to hide from and try to conquer on our own volition?

When am I Weak?

These days, I feel the weakest when I’m diving. I’ve swiftly picked up the frequency of my diving practices and I push myself out of my comfort zone every time. Just a few weeks ago, I partially dislocated my shoulder. This week, I’ve been doing dives that won’t jar my shoulder as much, but are challenging to land and often end in me doing a full back or belly flop.

Every time I walk up to the board, I feel weak and scared. My tummy starts doing flips long before my body does. In spite of this, I remind myself each time that God has given me the opportunity and the drive to get good at diving, so I will follow that calling. I will also keep in mind that no real (aka spiritual) harm will come to me from it.

My fragility, fright, and clumsiness don’t magically disappear right away when I decide to admit that I’m not really good at this and trust God. However, I am armed with the spiritual strength and ability to send it and constantly push my limits.

Full disclosure: Having courage and faith in God doesn’t necessarily make you immune to the laws of biology and physics at any given moment. Please depth check, build up difficulty gradually, and don’t surpass the limits of your abilities. God doesn’t guarantee miracles, and you would need a miracle to survive after dødsing directly into water that is only a foot deep or performing any similarly dumb stunt.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more content about being both holy and wholly ready to send it.

About the Author