God Is Creating Weakness In Your Life – Paula Washer
Understanding Why God Allows Weakness in Our Lives
One of the most profound realities of the Christian walk is coming to grips with weakness not as a flaw, but as God’s special tool for shaping us. Too often, we strive to look strong, confident, and self-sufficient. Scripture calls us to a different path: humbling ourselves, admitting our need, and depending fully on the power of Christ. Today, let’s journey through the importance of weakness as a central part of God’s work, the life of Jesus as our ultimate example, and the surprising power that comes when we stop trying to hide our limitations.
The True Hero of the Christian Life
When people discuss prayer or talk about “giants of the faith,” the temptation is to place Christian leaders on a pedestal. But the heart of the gospel reminds us: there are no “great men or women of God” only a great, merciful God who uses downright ordinary people. Ultimately, there is only one Hero in the story: Jesus Christ, God Himself, who came to dwell among us and rescue us by His grace.
Even those we admire for their prayers, their humility, or their spiritual maturity would tell you honestly anything good in their life is evidence of Jesus’ transforming work, not their talent. What matters most is not the strength of the Christian, but the strength of Christ in us.
Jesus Our Example God in Human Weakness
Consider the incredible humility of Jesus. As Isaiah 42:1 reminds us, Jesus was God’s chosen servant divine, yet truly human. In becoming man, Jesus laid aside the privileges of His deity and embraced our human reality, including all the frailty and pain that comes with it. His body suffered from the consequences of the fall, even though He Himself was sinless.
Scripture says that God upheld Jesus, that He drew strength from His Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed not “just” to set us an example but because, as the “last Adam,” He had to conquer temptation and suffering fully as a man. His victories were not won through His divine attributes, but by complete dependence on the Father. That dependence was expressed through prayer.
The Necessity of Prayer Born from Weakness
If Jesus perfect, blameless, Son of God lived every day in prayerful reliance, how much more do we need to? Yet, it’s easy to miss something crucial: our biggest obstacle isn’t a lack of strength; it’s that we don’t recognize how weak we truly are. Many of us go about life thinking we can handle things on our own, only to run into situations that finally drive us to our knees.
God’s relentless work in our lives has one consistent theme: cultivating a sense of need. He allows circumstances we can’t control, problems we can’t fix, and heartbreaks we can’t heal. These aren’t punishments or obstacles to growth, but precisely the means by which God draws us closer to Himself.
Why the Disciples Asked, “Teach Us to Pray”
In Luke 11:1, we see something striking. The disciples had witnessed Jesus do incredible miracles—healings, deliverances, even walking on water. Yet they never asked, “Teach us to do miracles,” or “Teach us to preach.” What stopped them in their tracks was Jesus’ prayer life. “Lord, teach us to pray,” they requested. Why? Because His prayer was different than anything they’d ever seen.
If the Son of God, operating in human weakness, needed to live by prayer, we should realize how much more it is a necessity for our own lives. Prayer isn’t just a spiritual discipline; it’s the oxygen of the soul. It’s what reconnects us to our source of strength again and again.
Sometimes God Lets Us Sink, So We’ll Reach Out
To illustrate the urgency and honesty of prayer born from weakness, picture this. Imagine being out in rough, wild waters with nothing to cling to terrified, exhausted, powerless. Suddenly, you realize you can’t rescue yourself. That panic, that utter helplessness, gives you the kind of grip that no one could pry loose.
There was once a young man, far out at sea, clutching a boogie board and utterly terrified. Nothing about him screamed “strong” or “heroic.” But in that moment, the overriding force in him wasn’t skill or courage it was desperation. The raw awareness of his own need compelled such a fierce grip that even those much stronger would have struggled to free themselves from him. True power, in that situation, wasn’t found in strength it was helplessness that pressed him to cling and not let go.
This is a mirror for our spiritual lives. Those who seem to have “great faith” or impressive “prayer lives” are often simply those who have become fully aware of their need. The truly “great” men and women of prayer don’t live driven by iron discipline or spiritual ambition. They pray because they know without God’s intervention, they are lost.
The Myth of the ‘Great Christian’
In our culture, we easily fall into the trap of exalting so-called spiritual giants the “great man of God,” the “mighty woman of prayer.” In reality, there are no such people. What sets certain people apart is not their personal greatness, but their deep sense of inadequacy. They have discovered the truth: “If God does not act for me, I have no hope.”
The more aware we are of our own inability, the more we cling to Christ. The less we believe in ourselves, the more His power becomes evident in our lives. Those who truly walk with God realize they bring nothing but their need.
If someone appears genuinely humble and dependent, that’s a sign that they actually know themselves well. But if they
