Weakness

I listened to a preacher a while back say that he could see people the way Jesus could see people because he saw the potential in people that no one else saw. At the time, his message seemed rather compelling, but the more I thought about it I wondered if that was really what Jesus saw. Did he call the apostles because he saw the potential that no one else saw, or did he see weakness that he could use?

As I read Old Testament stories about the people God used to do great things, I find that God seldom used people because of their potential, rather he chose to use people in spite of their weakness. In their weakness, it became more evident that it was God who was at work and not the untapped potential of man. I think there is a huge difference, both then and now.

If we believe that God uses the hidden potential in each of us to accomplish his tasks, then we spend our lives waiting to discover that potential. It gives us a reason for inaction. We wait for God to “reveal his will” for us and for the Holy Spirit to awaken that potential. Until it happens, we have a built-in excuse for passivity. It also causes us to believe that what happens is dependent on what we can do, instead of what God can do. God is more of a cheerleading motivator, urging us to use that untapped potential than he is the omnipotent God who holds our very life in his hands.

What makes this frightening is that if we understand that God uses our weakness, we have no excuse. What happens when I act (assuming we act with proper motive) is not dependent on my talent or ability, it is dependent only on what God chooses to do through me. I don’t have to wait for the timely revealing of my potential, I just need to be willing to trust that God will use me, both in my strength, and even more in my weakness. The condition of my heart and my willingness to go where there is a need becomes more important than any skill I might possess.

This changes the way we look at what we can or can’t do, or what we should or should not do. Instead of always waiting for opportunities that suit my strengths and talents, I simply look for the things that need to be done – I look for ways to join God in what he is doing rather than waiting for that perfect “fit” for my skills. Maybe it should also change the way we look for leaders. Instead of looking for men and women with the right skills and talents, perhaps we should look for people willing to serve where there is a need, even if it is in an area of weakness.

There is a balance, of course. There might be a need for repairs on the wiring of the building, but unless I have the proper knowledge, I probably want to leave it for someone more qualified. But I have known people who will not teach, work in the nursery, lead a small group, or go on a short-term mission trip because they don’t feel called or don’t feel like they have the right gift that qualifies them. Instead of trusting that God can use them and that they can learn to be used where there is a need, they look for someone else to step in. But, perhaps, that is where God can use us best, and maybe that is when we most recognized that God is at work, not us.