Power Perfected in Weakness

by Chy Robins

But he 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

I’ve been thinking about Samson a lot this week (Judges 16), and I think about how he’s typically depicted in movies and art - strong, muscular, and obviously with long hair. It’s always been curious to me though, that Delilah would repeatedly ask Samson to share the secret to his strength, if he looked like he drank protein shakes and hit the gym every day of the week. Why would one then wonder, where his strength came from? It seems kind of obvious.

But the scriptures actually do not describe Samson‘s appearance, apart from saying he had long hair. Some sources even argue that Samson probably was average size or scrawny. That, to me, makes sense. That explains why someone would want to know the secret to Samson’s power. The source of his strength wouldn’t be a mystery if he looked strong. The mystery would be if he didn’t have natural strength – if Samson looked weak, that would be a cause to wonder.

Now, times of fasting always bring me to 2 Corinthians 12. Paul talks about the thorn on his side that kept him in a position of weakness. Naturally, abstaining from any kinds of food will at the very least put you in a mood, and often leave you feeling tired, hungry, irritable, physically weak, and so on. Seasons of fasting don’t usually feel like powerful times in the natural sense. But how many testimonies have we heard of powerful experiences in the Spirit during these seasons? People are being delivered from lies, strongholds, sickness and generational sin. Some are receiving revelation and divine direction and strategy. Fasting gives way to power because our dependency on the Lord increases. God loves to demonstrate his power, and our weakness is the platform he chooses. In that place, he gets all the glory, because we have no reason to boast.

So in these last days of our 21-day fast, I encourage us all to lean in. You may be feeling lethargic today, unqualified, ill-equipped, or altogether imperfect. Take heart, He wants to meet us there. He wants to move in us, and through us, despite us. May we not run from what we are not, but look to Jesus and see who he is. May we not hide what we don’t have, but look to Jesus to see all he has. Take these moments of humbling and lean into the grace readily available to us.