Power Perfected in Weakness

God said to the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2Cor. 12:9) It was God who used this same encouragement to strengthen my own heart as I sought His face for help. The more I reflected on this oft-quoted verse, the more I gained insight into its meaning for me and my situation.

God’s power is perfected in weakness. If one were to paraphrase this brief sentence, it could read like this: Power is complete and strongest when we are weakest. Now God Himself is perfect. There is nothing in Him that can improve. There has never been, nor will there ever be a time when God’s power drops a teeny bit lower than fullness; and that through our weakness, God Himself gains more power so that it can be perfected once again. 

I reflected further. “What is weakness? How do I know when I am weakest?” I was soon revealed the answer. Weakness is helplessness. In helplessness I am totally dependent. When I make God my source—my only source, then my dependence on Him becomes very acute. It would be so intense that I will constantly, through all my waking hours, cry heavenward. 

I am a firm believer in the fact that our words of faith must be backed up with actions. If we have said to God, “There is none like You Lord. There is no one who loves me the way You do. There is no one wiser than You. None more caring and overflowing with loving kindness. You alone are the faithful, never changing God. There is no better place to be than safe in Thy arms; for I have made Thee my refuge. Please take hold of my hand. Go before me. Let Thy presence go with me; for there is no better leader or shepherd I would entrust my life and its decisions to.”—then such words need to be backed up with obedient trusting. If we mean such a prayer, having made it in sincerity and truth, I can say with certainty that our God and Father, who is attentive to our cry, takes the prayer seriously. His working then drives us to constantly make choices that reveal God as our source of help. We lean less on people and their power or influence; on banks or institutions; and on things of this world; and more on God. 

Now such decisions of total dependence on God does not come without testing. Key aspects that come to the fore in these times of testing are patience, perseverance and faith. I say these three because God’s time is not always our time. We may have expectations of how and when things must happen; but His time is perfect. It will happen when the eternal One in His perfect wisdom has purposed it to happen. How often we have heard it said, “God is never early but neither is He late.” God’s ways are also far higher than our ways. We can neither understand much of what He is doing nor why He is doing it. In times of testing, we find that our trust without reservation in the unseen Maker of all things consists of two pillars on which rest the three aspects mentioned: My faithful God can never go wrong; and I am safe in His hands for He loves me with an inseparable love. In times of darkness and uncertainty, it is the peace of God that protectively covers our patience and perseverance and continuous clinging to God. 

It is in times like these where we find that we are helpless in ourselves. It is in times like these we find that though we are weak, the One in whom we depend on is strong. It is in our weakness that God, our Almighty God, shows His power. It was at a time like this when Peter was thrown into a secure, doubly-guarded prison by Herod. The Apostle was facing certain death. The Church recognizing her own helplessness sought God’s face fervently in prayer. The rest of the story is written for us in Acts 12:1-16. God showed His mighty power. It was perfected in weakness. Paul and Silas were in an inner jail in Philippi—more like a place reserved for dangerous criminals—beaten and chained. Their response at this time of helplessness was to pray and sing hymns of praise to God. It was in their weakness that God’s power was perfected and made visibly manifest—the earth shook, the foundations of the prison house trembled, all the prison doors opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened (Acts 16:22-26). 

Now such weakness or helplessness in ourselves must, by necessity, draw us to look God-ward. For we have already said at the start that we have made God our refuge and our strength; a very present help in trouble (Psa. 46:1). Therefore we do not fear but with bold confidence draw near to Him who is enthroned in majesty and power. We must draw near to Him with prayer that sees His glory and gives Him praise (Acts 16:25). We must draw near to Him with prayer that is made fervently (Acts 12: 5) and earnestly (Jas. 5:17); and we must draw near to Him with prayer that is persistent and never loses heart (Lk. 11:8; Lk. 18:7). However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Lk. 18:8)

Abide in Me

I was kneeling in the presence of God this afternoon, troubled and disturbed. It appeared to me that I was being assailed from different sides with a strong tempest, fierce winds and stormy seas. It was at this time when my Saviour, the Lord Jesus, impressed this word upon my heart—“Abide in Me.” I was immediately reminded of a foetus in a mother’s womb, a picture of living within. Dwelling within, the foetus draws all its needs from the mother; lacking nothing. Abiding within, the little one is secure and at rest. It is in the safest place it can be.

I am no scholar in Greek but when I looked up the passage in John 15 where our Lord spoke of Him being the vine and commanded us to abide in Him—though to me it sounded more like an appeal from the heart—I noticed that one of the meanings of the Greek word “men'-o” that our living Vine repeatedly uses for the English word abide is “to remain as one, not to become another or different”. It is just like the foetus in the mother’s womb, joined and connected and to whom flows all good things. The picture of the vine that Jesus uses is even more appropriate for the branch, unlike the foetus that has a term, needs to draw its life from the vine continuously for its entire life-span; for apart from the vine it can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). It would only wither away and dry up (Jn. 15:6).

My soul hearkens to the appeal of my Saviour for I am convinced that in Him is everything I need. In all my troubles there is no wiser one than the God of perfect wisdom to guide me—for is He not the eternal One who knows all things? Is He not the One who can never make a mistake? In the midst of disturbance, His mighty right hand directs my path, ordaining my steps with sure footedness into the way that He has known from the beginning. In the tempest, I can rest with indescribable peace for under the shadow of the Almighty I am safe.

The proof of true “abiding” is in the fruit. We know that we would be deceiving ourselves if we say that we abide in Him while what flows from us is different from the life of the true Vine. True abiding in Jesus must first and foremost desire passionately to honour God—where all that matters is God’s will alone (Jn. 4:34; Psa. 40:6-8). True abiding must of necessity bring forth the fruit of righteousness—for has not the blood of the Lamb that was slain for our sake cleansed us from all unrighteousness? True abiding must bring implicit trust in God—a trust that clings to the sovereign, all-powerful, all-wise, faithful, loving and caring God (if we reflect on each of these attributes, we will find every one of them loaded with meaning). Does not the word say that he who comes to God must believe that He is (Heb. 11: 6)? The outcome of such faith will show in the form of peace—a peace that rests in God who never fails.

One thing about abiding in the living Vine is that because He is living, everything about us will constantly change. There is never a place of ‘settling’ down. Before we make our surroundings our comfort zone, He ‘disturbs’ the soil and we appear shaken. Abiding also results in a living relationship with our Maker. True abiding will always result in a vibrant bond with God. It is for this reason that our witness of Jesus Christ is fresh and our testimony of His greatness new each time. 

Now we all know that anyone who cares for plants must include pruning as part of the process of care. All ‘pruning’ is painful, yet for those who submit, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11). I am convinced that our Father, the vinedresser (Jn. 15:1) with overwhelming love and wisdom towards us uses the cares and troubles of this life to produce in us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison (2Cor. 4:17). The fruit that comes from His pruning (Jn. 15: 2) must and will remain (Jn. 15:16) as treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal (Mt. 6:20). The fruit that we bear glorifies the Father and proves without a shadow of doubt that we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ.

Let us therefore submit to our Maker with an attitude of total surrender. May such a surrendered heart cry: “There is nowhere else I would rather be than grafted securely in the true Vine from whom flows life and power and wisdom and grace. I remain ‘as one with Thee’ dear Lord because I desire that my source of all that I need is from no one else but Thee—for from Thee and through Thee are all things. I rest securely in Thee Oh God who sits enthroned in majesty over all things; for Thou eternal God art my dwelling place and underneath are Thine everlasting arms. May Thou in Thine abundant care and boundless love do what Thou sees fit for I believe that Thy ways are perfect and just; bearing for me a blessing on earth and a reward in heaven. And in me dear Father, be glorified.”