What a great comfort to know that when we are weak, He is strong. And when we remember to claim and rely on His strength, incredible things happen!
A few weeks back we celebrated a milestone at one of the shops with a customer appreciation day. We make a big deal of these days and typically have a nice amount of traffic come through. We had extra help scheduled to assist with the influx of traffic and we had a good plan of how to handle things. And then one girl sprained her ankle the night before and had to call out.
This left myself and one other employee to handle the extra traffic on our own at short notice. I didn’t see really what I could do about it in between 9pm one night and 7am the next morning, so I gave it to God. He knows all things and a sprained ankle didn’t surprise Him. The next day as we prepared, I literally told God I wasn’t sure how we were going to handle the traffic and I had tried to prepare for it and it had fallen through. I was at a loss until I remembered that when I feel weak, He is strong. So I changed my tune!
Instead, I thanked Him for being our strength in this situation and asked Him to help us show up well for Him. And do you know, it was a terrific day. True, we were beyond busy, but without God we never would’ve gotten through it! He definitely blessed our efforts and because of His strength we were able to provide great service and a great experience to our customers!
Change Your Tune
How often do plans change and throw us? We have an idea of how things are going to come together only to have it changed. Sometimes the (seeming) only constant in life is change. How might we better navigate that to gracefully accept it and adjust our expectations?
I feel like this is something I constantly need to work on. Sometimes I don’t even realize how many expectations I have until they begin to fall apart one by one. But if we can trust God with the big things in our lives, can’t we trust Him with the tiny, seemingly insignificant too? And perhaps those are more of a challenge because they seem more achievable by us.
I believe it comes back to surrender. Surrendering our plans, surrendering our hearts, surrendering our expectations. Not to give up and be a ship without a rudder, but to surrender to the guidance of an Almighty God! We can still have a plan – one that is presented to God and then pursued until we are shown a better way.
God’s Grace
God’s grace is an incredible thing:
Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. – 2 Cor 12:9
Even Paul wrote about his weaknesses in the New Testament. To read all that he wrote, his insight and encouragement, instruction and warnings, it is hard to imagine that he didn’t have things together pretty well once God captured his attention and set him on a path for Him. But even Paul spoke about his own weakness. And I think that that is just a good reminder that we all need God!
We can do our best, give our all, work to have a heart perfect towards God, but we still need His grace! And how kind of God to give us this grace. This extra measure of love and assurance that even though we are human, He can use us and even wants to use us to accomplish His will! What an honor!
And when one’s perspective is shifted like that, it puts a completely different light on our own changed plans, doesn’t it? Instead of thinking how inconvenient or annoying it is that things did not work out like we were planning, we can ponder how God may need us to show up for Him in a new and unexpected way!
Claim His Strength
Since the Bible says that God is the strength in our weakness, we have the opportunity to claim His strength! What a privilege! And instead of feeling all down on ourselves for where we are weak – though yes, we should work on these areas and not just accept them – we can delight in how we are made because it gives us a chance to claim His strength and directly represent Him!
Let us remember this well when plans are falling apart or when frustrations are recurring. Instead of reacting, let’s consider what may really be happening. We are being given an opportunity to invite God in closer, to know Him on another level and claim His strength that specifically has our name on it!
We know that God doesn’t ever set His people up for failure. That’s not who He is. So we need to reframe the situation, think past ourselves, and figure out how to use it for His glory! We can do that by wholeheartedly claiming His strength. When we honor God, He honors us. And He never ever fails us.
Whether the situation is big or small, may we surrender our selfish whims, use the grace He so generously gives, and claim success and direction through His strength! When we are weak, He is strong!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Keep reading: https://www.theamericanlady.com/