Weakness

God Glorified in our Weakness

It is cause for great gratitude to God that human weakness need not limit God’s power. We are prone to think that where sadness is, joy cannot exist; that where there are tears, there cannot be praise; that where weakness is present, power must be absent; that where this is doubt, there cannot be faith.

But let me proclaim this with a clear voice: God is seeking to bring us to the point where we recognize that all that is of man is only intended to provide an earthen vessel to contain the divine treasure. Herein lies the glory of Christianity; that God’s treasure can be manifest in earthen vessels. This is a paradox. As we live the Christian life, this paradoxical life, we get to know God. The treasure becomes increasingly manifest, but the earthen vessel is the earthen vessel still.

This is very beautiful. Look at the divine patience inside a man who by nature is very impatient and compare it with the sight of a man who, by nature, nothing can move. See the divine humility in one who by nature is haughty and compare that with one who is always of a retiring disposition. See the strength of God in a person of weak temperament and compare that with a naturally strong character. The difference is tremendous!

Watchman Nee