‘Imperfection’
“And lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he
said unto me, My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
Are you aware that the
GOD who created you, knows exactly what your weaknesses are? He has placed them
right there where only He and you can 'find them'. However, He still wants you to hand them
over to Him, so that His work on them can begin. Nonetheless, He does not stop
using you while He is fixing you but continues to use you for His Kingdom!
Now, let me tell you
about my ‘Red shoe experience’.
I LOVE Red. Therefore, it was to be expected that I would get
myself a ‘working pair’ of beautiful red shoes! Even if it came with a few
‘issues’, ‘we’ managed to get over them by the grace of GOD!
Now, one day after a Boda boda (motorcycle) ride, I was disappointed
to note that one of the shoes (the shoe on the right hand side) had a white string-like
mark at the back of the heel! A nail had tightened its grip on the heel of my
red shoe, somewhere during my journey on the Boda boda - I was crushed,
could not get rid of it because it was fairly new! Therefore, I had no choice
but to 'forget about it'…to forget that it existed! Thank GOD, it was at the back,
and that only those who walked behind me could see it. Those who were headed in
my direction, and those who walked alongside me, were oblivious to it!
The mark was another of many lessons, in humility, that GOD
was teaching me. Seeing that I had no money to buy myself another pair, I was
forced to ‘live with it’ as ‘marred’ as it was! Interestingly, one of the
reasons that I forgot about it was because I chose to IGNORE IT! Similarly, we
should choose to IGNORE our weaknesses.
We should also be aware that weaknesses teach us to be
humble; knowing that we are so gifted, yet with something that makes us
somewhat imperfect! In fact, just like Paul’s 'thorn in the flesh', I happen to
believe that GOD allows some of these weaknesses to be a small part of our
lives, in order to humble us. You see, sometimes, we consider ourselves too
anointed to have any weaknesses and that is when pride sets in.
This ‘red shoe situation’ taught me that we can live with our
weaknesses, as well as those of other people, while GOD fixes us and them. It
is sad that we often wear our weaknesses on our ‘faces’ instead of on the back
of our heels! We forget that they are weaknesses and that only those who walk
behind us can see! We should front our strengths where all can see them while
we trust GOD to take away our weaknesses that happen to be on the BACK OF OUR HEELS.
Interestingly, those weaknesses that we are most aware of,
are not noticed by those who walk beside us but those behind us if they do
notice them at all!
Also, we must look for the strengths of those with whom we
relate, or besides whom we walk, instead of looking for their weaknesses.
Interestingly, people’s strengths are more visible than their weaknesses.
Nonetheless, we tend to intentionally ‘walk behind them’, focus on the ‘white
string-like mark’ and magnify it!
It would be nice to note that, just as I could not dispose of
the pair of shoes because of the white mark, GOD does not dispose of us because
of our weaknesses. He works with us concerning them. All that He requires of us,
is to commit them to Him. As He works on them, He expects us to wear them at
the back of the heel of our favourite shoes, where we cannot see them. He
expects us to ‘forget’ about them, ‘front our strengths’, and trust that He is
working on the weaknesses.
Interestingly, the white mark was not a hindrance to my
wearing the pair again – I still looked good in my red pair of shoes and it did
not subtract from the effectiveness of the red shoes! Similarly, your
weaknesses do not stop GOD from using you. What GOD wants you to do, however,
is to hand them over to Him and focus on living right, doing right, and living
a holy life. As you turn your back on the weaknesses, and focus on GOD, you
will be more effective and humble knowing that you are also human enough to
have them. It will also be evident to you (and to everyone else) that in your
weaknesses, His strength is made perfect and that even if they are still there,
the grace of GOD is sufficient! He will give you enough strength not to succumb
to them.
Still, when we are aware of our weaknesses, commit them to
GOD, and focus on our strengths, we become less aware of the weaknesses of
those around us, commit them to GOD, and focus on their strengths as well!
However, it is unfortunate that our weaknesses blind us to
the fact that GOD can still use us. In fact it is sad that, sometimes, we
become arrogant and justify ourselves regarding them instead of acknowledging
them and allowing GOD to change us.
Therefore, today, let us acknowledge our weaknesses and hand
them to GOD. Let us wear them on our heels instead of on our faces and let us
move on. Let us be reminded that they are so insignificant to GOD that He can
use despite of them. Let us also be reminded that to those who walk beside us
and to those who approach us, they are not noticed but to those walk behind us
they may be noticed if they are keen enough to notice them.
Allow me to let you know that since my favourite pair of
working shoes had that little ‘accident’, no one has ever mentioned the white
like path on my heel! This means that they either do not notice it or have
chosen to ignore it as I have!
Therefore, let us be safe in the knowledge that we have
handed them to GOD and that He is working on them while we bask in our
strengths!
Prayer
Dear GOD, I know that I have been marred – I have certain
weaknesses that I now hand to you. I turn my back on them and my face to you,
trusting that you will take them away. Given that I am also not perfect, I choose to ignore the weaknesses of those with whom I relate on a daily
basis. I hand them over to you so that you can sort them out. In the meantime,
let me continue serving you, with flaws, as if I do not have any! In Jesus’
name, I have prayed, amen.
