Every one of us has weaknesses. There are physical weaknesses, emotional weaknesses, relational weaknesses, financial weaknesses, intellectual weaknesses. There are things your body can’t do. Some of us even have fashion weaknesses. We have all different kinds of weakness.

The real issue is not “Do I have weaknesses?” but “What am I going to do with my weaknesses?” What we normally do is deny them, defend them, excuse them, resent them and most of all hide them. Then God comes along and says, “You know what I want to do with your weaknesses? I want to use them.”

The way you think God should work is often the exact opposite of the way He really works in life. He says, “I don’t want to work around your weaknesses. I don’t want to work in spite of your weaknesses. I want to work through your weaknesses.”

God purposely works through weak people. Why? Because it shows His power.

• Zechariah 4:6b (KJV) Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

Most of us are not extraordinary people. We don’t have bodies like models. We don’t have extraordinary intellect. We’re just normal, ordinary, average people. God says “That’s okay, because I don’t choose to work through natural strength.”

When we talk about weakness we’re not talking about sins or character flaws that you can change (like overeating, impatience, greed, laziness).

Weakness is any limitation in my life that I inherited or cannot change. There are all kinds of limitations like that.

• 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NCV) We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us.

The thing about clay pots is that they break easily — they are not indestructible. But more than that, every clay pot has inherited design flaws; it is imperfect. We are just ordinary containers, but we have a great God.

How can I use my weaknesses? 

The starting point is to stop pretending you’ve got it all together. Because you don’t — nobody does. Stop hoping that your weaknesses will go away if you just ignore them. Stop making excuses or blaming others for your weaknesses. You’ve tried all that, and it hasn’t worked Just admit that you have weaknesses.

Sometimes God has to bring something into our lives to get us to admit our weaknesses. That is called a crisis. A crisis is a weakness identifier. When you go through a crisis, it says, “Here’s the fault in my life, the failure, the lack, the weak spot.” Don’t wait for a crisis. It’s far less painful to identify your weaknesses and admit them up front than having to go through crisis after crisis.

Be grateful for weaknesses

“You’ve got to be kidding. I want to come to church and take a magic pill to get rid of all my weaknesses. I don’t want you to tell me to be grateful for them — I want to be free from all of them.”

A) It guarantees God’s help. 

GOD: 2 Corinthians 12:9a (LB) But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.

PAUL: 2 Corinthians 12:10b (LB) For when I am weak, then I am strong — the less I have, the more I depend on him.

If you’ve prayed repeatedly for God to take something away and He hasn’t, it’s probably a weakness. He might be saying, “Why in the world would I take it away? If you could solve all your problems and meet all your needs, how much would you depend on Me?”

B) It causes me to value others.

One of the dangers of strength is that it breeds an independent spirit. If I don’t have any weaknesses in my life, I tend to think, “I don’t need anybody.” But God made us to value each other.

One of the biggest lies in our society is that significance is the same thing as prominence. We tend to think if you’re well known, then what you have to say is very important. But you can be a celebrity and be living a totally trivial life.

Your nose may be a very prominent feature of your body. But it’s not very significant. You could lose your nose and live the rest of your life. It’s prominent; it’s not significant. On the other hand, there are some organs that are not seen at all, but you can’t live without them.

• 1 Corinthians 12:22 (LB) And some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary.

You make a strong rope, not by making one solid cord, but by putting a lot of strands together. That’s the value of unity, and the value of a church family.

• Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT) A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

C) It gives me a ministry.

God puts you on earth not just to live for yourself, but to help other people. Your greatest ministry will flow out of your weaknesses. Your greatest life message is going to come out of your deepest hurt. The very thing that caused you the most grief and pain, God can use as a message to other people to encourage them.

• 2 Corinthians 1:4 (NLT) He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

When you have walked a mile in someone else’s shoes, you are uniquely equipped to help them through their problems.

Whenever you go out and share your strength, that always creates competition. But whenever you share your weakness, that creates community. Vulnerability is the key to intimacy and fellowship.

God always uses weak people. He turns weakness into strength.

Tony Bohrer is the pastor at the Apostolic Lighthouse Church in Craig.