Fragility Isn't Failure

Do you ever feel as though you're about to break? You try desperately to hold it together in front of everyone else – but inside, you're tired, stretched, maybe even ashamed that you can't handle more. Somewhere along the line, we've come to believe that weakness equals failure. But God sees it differently.

When the composer Ludwig van Beethoven began losing his hearing, it crushed him. Music was his life, his identity, his world. For a time, he withdrew in despair. But instead of quitting, he kept composing – not despite his weakness, but through it. Out of that brokenness came his most transcendent work: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. His limitation became the channel for glory.

That's what the Apostle Paul was getting at when he wrote this:

2 Corinthians 4:7 We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us.

In Paul's day, clay jars were cheap and fragile – easily cracked, easily replaced. And yet, God chooses us – frail, ordinary vessels – to carry His life and light into the world.

So … back to you. Back to your inner life. Back to the flaws, the weaknesses, the burdens, the confusion, the shame, the resentment, the fear that sometimes grips your heart; all that stuff you'd rather hide. With all that going on, know this:

Fragility isn't failure; it's evidence that the power is God's, not yours. We are all - each one of us - just like those cracked jars Paul was alluding to. So stop trying to hide your cracks. Instead, let God's light in your heart shine out through them. Because it's in your weakness that His strength is at its most beautiful and most powerful.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.