Finding Strength in Times of Weakness
May 10, 2010 · 0 Comments
By: Robert D. Foster
Without exception, we all are destined to face sickness, disease, decline and, eventually, death. No matter who you are, rich or poor, CEO or custodian, world-famous celebrity or unknown, you will one day share the same line in the obituary column that everyone ultimately receives: “And he (or she) died.”
Even before we breathe our last, however, we must deal with weakness, whether it be of a physical, emotional, professional or spiritual nature. How we respond in times of weakness reveals our character, and often serves to shape the rest of our lives.
One of my cherished friends was Bud Wynthein, a young German farm boy who had a distinctive and refreshing view on life. Many years ago, he and his lovely Swedish wife, Margaret, operated several hundred acres of farmland near Wasco, Illinois, U.S.A. until poliomyelitis (polio) placed him an iron lung. Seemingly, Bud and Margaret’s hopes and dreams had died with his diagnosis: acute flaccid paralysis.
However, Bud refused to be “knocked out.” Margaret managed the farm with hired hands as Bud began a long and difficult program of rebuilding his upper torso; the lower half was useless. The farm equipment company devised a tractor for him to operate without legs. Polio may have stricken his body, but could not cripple Bud’s heart – his will to live and his happy, unfailingly smiling disposition. His strong faith in Jesus Christ was not a means of escaping God’s will, but his way of seeing that God’s will would be done.
Bud’s handicap became his pulpit. He might have read the magazine article, “Turn Your Sickness into an Asset,” because he certainly lived its principles. The article wisely observed, “Often sickness generates energies that mere health couldn’t possibly bestow.” Here are examples:
* Sickness helps to remind us of death.
* Sickness helps to make us to think seriously about God.
* Sickness helps to soften our heart.
* Sickness helps to “level and humble” us.
* Sickness helps to test our faith in God.
Such thinking prompted the apostle Paul to write: “…I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down, what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking round high and mighty! Three times I did that, and then He told me, ‘My grace is enough, it’s all you need, My strength comes into its own in your weakness.’
“Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. Now I take limitations in stride and good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size, abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become” (2 Corinthians 12: 7-10).
Author Max Lucado expressed it this way: “When your weakness surfaces, remember that God still uses you; volunteer for a form of service that requires you to depend on God’s strength. Depend on Him every step of the way.”
Until next week!
Taken and adapted from The Challenge, written and published by Robert D. and Rick Foster. Permission to reproduce with proper credit is freely given and encouraged. For questions or comments, write: 29555 Goose Creek Rd, Sedalia, CO 80135, U.S.A., or fax (303) 647-2315.
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