Words of Grace – April 30, 2015

An evangelist wrote the following words in the front of his Bible to remind himself of an important truth:

“I am weak, and I will always be weak; but He is strong, and He will always be strong.”

The Word of God commands us to “be strong,” but not to “be strong” in ourselves. The command is to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Paul, the old preacher, wrote to Timothy, the young preacher, telling him to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (Second Timothy 2:1). Paul had learned that grace is strength when the Lord said to him:

“My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (Second Corinthians 12:9). It was because of the strengthening grace of Christ that Paul could say: “for when I am weak, then am I strong (v.10).

What the apostle meant by this was that he was made “strong in the Lord” when he gave his weakness to Him. He became “strong in the grace that is in Christ” when he confessed his own weakness.

Without Christ we “can do nothing” (John 15:5). With Christ we “can do all things” (Philippians 4:13). His grace is sufficient to make up for our weakness.