Power in Weakness

April 30, 2015

Power in Weakness

May God be gracious to us and bless us and

make his face to shine upon us,          Selah

Psalm 67:1 NRSV

Brennan Manning received international acclaim for his marvelous ability to communicate the incomprehensible grace of God. Near the end of his active ministry Manning was asked what he thought was his greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God. The questioner listed many of Manning’s best-selling books, his seminars and his work as a spiritual director, and asked which of these accomplished the most good? Manning replied, “Not long ago I encountered an old priest with a drinking problem. I confessed to him, “Just a few years ago, I was a hopeless alcoholic in the gutter in Ft. Lauderdale.” The old priest replied, “You? Oh thank God!”

Abba’s words to Saint Paul remind us that it is not our strength or accomplishments that do the most good, but our shared weakness: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). I have had the opportunity to speak on Fourth Day (Walk to Emmaus, Tres Dias, etc.) spiritual retreats many times. When preparing my talks I always struggle with how much personal information to share. I am a very private person and sharing personal information does not come easily for me. However, without fail, I am most connected with my audience and I am more effectively used by God as His vessel of grace when I allow His power to work through my weakness.

The Apostle Paul learned this lesson well. In his letter to the Philippians he shared his personal history and many accomplishments and concluded they were utterly worthless compared to knowing Christ. Everything Paul said about forgetting the past and pressing on to know Christ is grounded on Jesus’ promised blessing:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 NRSV). We experience God being gracious to us and blessing us and making his face to shine upon us when we share with one another how God’s power is working through our weakness.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.