When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong

I love painting my nails.

 

I love painting them with vibrant colours and soft pastel hues.  I love transforming something ordinary into something colourful and beautiful.  And I find it really relaxing and satisfying and indulgent - if only for 10 minutes.

 

But the problem with painting your nails is that pretty soon after you are done, they smudge or chip or flake.  Even if the nail varnish claims to be 'fast-drying' or 'chip-resistant' or 'hard-wearing'.  Unless you don't use your hands at all after you have painted your nails, you can pretty much guarantee that they are going to chip.

 

And when they're chipped, they never look as good.  Yes, there's still a trace of the colour left and a trace of your effort in painting them, but it almost looks worse than if you hadn't painted them at all.

 

And then there's the question of whether you keep painting over the chips and filling in all of the blank bits, or just surrender to fate and wipe it all away.

 

In the same way, I sometimes find when I start something new and it fails, or doesn't go the way I want it to, I'm faced with the question of whether to keep painting over the cracks, or to wipe away every trace of my trying.

 

I don't want people to see the cracked, chipped, messy bits - I want to paint over them and keep up a perfect appearance.

 

But that is neither real, nor possible.

 

I wrote yesterday about life - real life - being messy and far from the perfection that so many of us chase.  In the same way, when I paint my nails, I would love for them to stay perfect and unchipped, but it's not a real reflection of life. 

 

Paul writes in Corinthians about an occasion where he prayed to ask God to remove something from his life, which he felt was a weakness - an imperfection:

"He [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

 

 [2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV] 

 

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

Instead of never painting my nails, or frantically repainting over the cracks and chips every time they appear, I will continue to paint my nails and enjoy the colour they bring. But when they chip and flake, I will be reminded of my weaknesses and the fact that I don't need to hide them or cover them up. And I will be reminded of the fact that I am not perfect. And that is a good thing. 

 

For His power is made perfect in my imperfect weakness. 

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh Start

This afternoon, I went to watch the new Batman film. 

I really enjoyed it and there were lots of things that stood out for me.  However, to avoid ruining any of the twists if you have yet to see it, I will keep my comments short and spoiler-free.

One of the main things that I found really significant was how one of the characters is completely driven and motivated by a desire for a fresh start and a new identity.  And she will do anything to achieve this.

She is so desperate to wipe away the trace of her past and who she was, that she will stop at nothing until she has got what she wants.

Her desire for a fresh start and to be able to wipe the slate clean is one that we can all empathise with.  We have all done or said or been things with which we're not especially proud.  We all have, as Lord Grantham says in 'Downton Abbey' "chapters we'd rather keep unpublished."

And the good news is that when we put our trust and our hope in Jesus, we are given a fresh start.  We are made new:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

[2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV]

Whilst we receive a brand new life the moment we turn to God, we are always in need of another fresh start and another fresh start and another fresh start.

And with Jesus, if we ask, there will always be a new beginning, a chance to wipe the slate clean and to start over:

          "Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
          for his compassions never fail. 
          They are new every morning."

          [Lamentations 3:23 NIV emphasis mine]

I love this prayer of David for a fresh start and new life -

         "God, make a fresh start in me,
         shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life."
         [Psalm 51:10 MSG]

We all long for a fresh start, but we don't have to pursue it with all that we have.  We simply have to ask.

View Points

At the beach yesterday and again today, I spotted something that I had completely forgotten existed: the old-fashioned viewfinder.

Simply pay a modest 20p (and what else can you get these days for 20p?)
and you can use the telescope to take in the view around you and zoom in on interesting scenery/landmarks/people etc.

It gives you a different perspective on the same view.

Another point of view.

It helps us to see things which we would otherwise struggle to see.

In the same way, God's word can give us a different perspective on our lives. It can help us to see the unseeable, to zoom in on the smaller details, which we would otherwise miss.

Paul said,

"We live by faith and not by sight."
[2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV]

We live, not by what we can see and understand or by what we can perceive, but by trusting God and seeking His perspective. By seeking His view of things and by asking Him to show us things which we can't see. And most of all, by trusting that there is more to see.

"Keep your eyes open for God, watch for His works;
Be alert for signs of His presence."
[Psalm 105:4 MSG]

Use the Bible as your viewfinder, to bring your world into focus. And keep your 20p.

Reflections

Isn't it strange how we never really know what we look like, apart from in photos?

We always see the opposite of what everyone else sees when we look in a mirror; we are used to seeing ourselves reflected.

For example, I am used to my parting being on one side of my head and it looks strange when I see myself in photographs and everything is reversed.  But it is even stranger still to know that that is what I look like to everyone else.

We never see what everyone else does.

It got me thinking about how often this is the case spiritually too: we often don't see ourselves the way others do either.  We overlook our gifts and talents and emphasise our flaws and failings.  So often we see our weaknesses looming over our personalities and eclipsing the good things God has given us.

Recently, we spent some time at Small Group sharing what we felt were each other's strengths and gifts and I think we were all completely surprised by some of the things that other people saw in us.

For me, people saw some things that I have always longed for them to see, but never believed they would.  Or some of the things that were said were the exact opposite of what I would have said about myself.  They were things that I struggle to believe about myself.

We often fixate on the negatives.

It felt strange to hear and read these words and to realise that this is how other people see me.  That when they look at me, this is what they see.

And it felt strange to be presented with this image of myself, which is so different from the one I am used to.  A bit like seeing what I really look like when I see myself in a photograph.

I want to spend less time indulging the negative thoughts that I have about myself which limit and restrict what I think God can achieve through me, and reflect instead on the real me, believing the positive things that God has said about me.

And the more time we spend in His presence and reading His Word, the more we will begin to reflect His glory.  And the more like our real selves we will become.

"But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord — who is the Spirit — makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."

[2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NLT emphasis mine]

This is the chorus from a song I love about how we see ourselves: 'You Are More' by Tenth Avenue North -

You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.

That's what I want to see when I look at my reflection.