When I am Weak

It was a men’s retreat. The man sharing his testimony of his life in recovery from alcohol spoke of hitting bottom and being broken. Though 15 years sober, his story was still real and raw for us sitting quietly in the room.

In order for any change to take place, or for any healing to occur, his heart had to be softened. In fact, his heart was so hard that it had to be broken so that God could find a way in through all the cracks and crevasses. During his talk he quoted 2 Corinthians 12:10, “for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Our spiritual growth is largely paradox. Being broken to the healed is near the top of the list. I was thinking about a broken vessel, and how it is impossible for it to hold water. A broken heart cannot hold God’s love, it flows through the same cracks and crevasses that softened the hard heart.

It is in our brokenness and weakness that we can be humble and empathic. Gratitude and generosity flow as God’s love passes though us to others. It seems to me that the best stewardship sermon is a transformed life in Christ. The problem is that we are so desperate to balance the church budget that we forget the spiritual paradox. For just as I am weak then I am strong; when I am poor, then I am rich.