So I can be stubborn… more like selectively stubborn. Most people would tell me either you are stubborn or you are not. But that is simply not true. Take working out for example. I often prefer to work out by myself, mostly because if I change my mind about an exercise or just plain don’t feel like running anymore I don’t have to explain to anyone else why I am quitting. But when I am with someone, I am too prideful to ask to stop. Real life….
Last weekend, my husband found a bike at the local Goodwill and decided to purchase it. Then at a garage sale, I saw one my size and sure enough I drove home with a bike for myself in the back seat. (see, I can learn to be more spontaneous!)
After a day at work, we decided to take them out for their first official spin on the bike path near our house. It was a seemingly beautiful day! Despite not riding a bike for about a decade at this point, I was keeping up pretty well. That is until we turned a corner onto a long stretch of path.
Riding up hill into strong wind is not for the faint of heart. It took me quite awhile to admit to myself that I just couldn’t keep up. A quite a bit longer to finally admit it to my husband. I couldn’t keep going. The only choice was to call it quits and head back the way we came.
You know what I said to him as we pulled into our driveway. “I’m sorry we couldn’t keep going. It’s just that I am smaller than you.”
Smaller than you!
I am smaller than him. He is taller than me of course. But what would have been more accurate for me to say would be that I am weaker than him. My size was not as much the issue as my strength. My muscles were the ones that were shaking and struggling against the wind.
He knew what I meant of course, but the simple fact was that I did not want to admit that I was weak or struggling. And trust me, I was worse off for it.
But so often in life, I have trouble admitting my weakness. Keeping it in and trying to muscle through it is my default. Weakness feels embarrassing. Weakness feels shameful.
But don’t we all do this. We try to be strong, to be tough. We try to push through it all. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?”
No, not right. What doesn’t kill us makes us tired and bitter. What doesn’t kill us can make us feel isolated and ashamed.
In a perfect world there would be no weakness. In an ideal world, we would admit our weakness. In a broken world we try to deny and hide it. But then we just remain weak and exhausted.
My hope is that we can claim our weakness. We can bring it into the light. In the areas we are weak, we can allow those around us to be strong. In the places where we are strong, we can carry those who are feeling weak. Our weakness can bring us together. It can bridge the gap between us… the gap left by pretending we have no need.
We were not meant to be self sufficient. We were not designed to carry the weight of the world. And when we try, we will get tired. Our muscles will fatigue.
The Bible says that when we were weak, Christ died for us. In our need, He met us and saved us. Not in our strength. Not when we had it together. It also says blessed be the poor and needy.
Only in admitting our areas of weakness will we make room for God to work.
So in those moments where are tempted to muscle through. Those moments where we want to hide and pretend. Let it go. Admit that you are at your limit. Allow the Lord to be your strength. Allow Him to carry your burdens.
They way He does that most often is through others around you.
Bring your burdens before the Lord. And trust those He brings alongside you to carry them. Understand that they may not know you need strength unless you let know in. And know that
in any area those around us may also lack or let us down, Christ is sufficient.
He carried our ultimate burden to the Cross and carried us before the throne. He will never let us down. There is no weakness in Him, except the weakness He chose to take from us.