I Still Do By Dave HarveySample

DAY 2

Our Weakness, His Strength

Marriage is the union of two people on a journey to discover their weakness. The goal of such an admission is not self-loathing. That would be like saying the key to spiritual maturity or marital health is reciting the narrative of our failings to any who will hear it.

To understand why Paul would boast about his weakness, we must grasp that at its core, weakness is an experience of inability that requires dependence on God. 

Weakness is a reality in life and marriage because we are not God. We are creatures, not the Creator. We are finite and live with limitations. But it’s not merely that we’re limited as creatures, and that we’re not as smart or powerful as God. No, we are also fallen. We have sinned. Before Christ, we needed forgiveness; we needed to be born again. Apart from Jesus, we deserve wrath. Our problem is fatal. We are spiritually dead—that is, morally unable to do anything to help ourselves. We are weak, and we desperately need the help of One who is consummately strong. When we were dead, we needed Jesus, the Savior, to do for us what we were incapable of accomplishing in our own strength.

Weakness is not merely confined to salvation, as if we’re desperate for God before we come to Jesus but then convert into superhero specimens of strength. Weakness also exposes our areas of limitation, vulnerability, or susceptibility that require reliance on God. Weakness reminds us we’re not kingdom-ruling conquerors exercising omniscience, omnipotence, and omnicompetence at will. Not even close! 

Yet mysteriously and remarkably, our weakness—our daily inability—becomes a channel for the movement of God. Rather than condemning us for our inability, God chose to make our weakness the place where His power is made perfect and His strength will prevail. 

How has your marriage exposed your limitations and your need for God’s strength?