“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” -2 Corinthians 12:9
My Dearest Sister,
You may have noticed this about me already, but I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times. It really bothers me when something I do doesn’t turn out just like I had envisioned. Sometimes it even seems that anything not done perfectly is a failure. Whether it’s that I accidentally tapped someone’s bumper in traffic, spoke harsh words to a friend, or forgot to return the library books on time, I hate facing the fact that I have made a mistake. I am reminded of what Kayla mentioned in her letter to you a few days ago. Our flesh wants to rely on its own strength, doesn’t it? To admit weakness is to admit that we aren’t perfect, that we make mistakes and have faults. In short, it is to admit that we can’t do it on our own. What I and my fellow perfectionists sometimes seem to forget is that failures and mistakes are a part of life. No one is perfect because “all have sinned and fall short”, remember? We really can’t do it on our own and that’s the whole reason we need Jesus to begin with.
I am reminded of Paul’s story in 2 Corinthians 12 where he talks about his thorn in the flesh. The Scripture isn’t really clear as to what this thorn or weakness was, but Paul does say that it was given to him so that he wouldn’t be “exalted above measure,” or be made prideful. He pleaded three times with the Lord that this thorn would be removed so this was obviously something painful, either emotionally or physically, that he struggled with. Instead of removing the thorn, the Lord answered him with the assurance that “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” You see, it would be easy for a guy like Paul, who received all these revelations from God and became such an important part of the early church, to let his position go to his head. Maybe God knew that if Paul wasn’t made very well aware of his own shortcomings, he would have tried to do it in his own strength, not God’s. Maybe he, or even those around him, would have made the mistake of thinking he was just too perfect.
But as you know, no one – not even Paul – is perfect. If you remember the story, he had quite a tainted past. He used to be Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor and slayer of Christians. But God had a different plan and direction for his life, one that involved an outpouring of grace and mercy on a guilty soul. And dear sister, we are all like Paul in that we all desperately need his grace! Our flesh is weak and sinful and desires to master us. You see, if we had the power to live righteously and perfectly on our own, then we wouldn’t so desperately need a Savior. Then the whole point of Jesus’ death and resurrection would be null and void. But as Romans 8:3 says, “what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled…”. We can never, by our own weak nature, be perfect enough to please God. But the good news is that we don’t have to: Jesus fulfilled that righteous requirement for us when he took all our sins upon himself on the cross. It was graciously given to us, even though we don’t deserve it.
The key to receiving this wonderful grace is that we have to admit that we need it to begin with. James 4:6 says that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” It’s hard sometimes to face our own faults and mistakes without feeling like total failures in life. However, our weaknesses shouldn’t be a source of frustration and shame, but should serve as a stark contrast to God’s perfectness and strength, thereby drawing us back to Him. So, my sister, the next time life reminds us of our mistakes and we start to feel like Miss Imperfect, let’s use it as an opportunity to remember God’s sufficient grace, for it is more than enough to cover all our faults and failures. We may not be perfect but that’s okay, because we serve a God who is!
Your grace-filled sister in Christ,
~ Lauren Titcomb