Reaching out

            We live in a culture that looks down on weakness, we give it a connotation of shame. Yet, I ask you; what is so wrong about weakness? It is in weakness that relationship with God and others is forged into a stronger bond than was before. The one who is bold enough to share a weakness really isn’t weak at all. That person is baring his soul, reaching out and asking for help, requesting the presence of another to get through a situation. In today's culture, that takes guts all on its own. Growth happens in weakness too; we don’t stay weak. The word picture that comes to mind is a line of people climbing a mountain; the strongest person leads and reaches back to pull the next person up who in turn pulls the one behind him up and so it goes. Everyone reaches the top with the help of the one who went before him. Everyone is successful because of the relationship to each other.

            I have had plenty of times of weakness in my life and I can honestly say that asking for help is one of my biggest hurdles. I want someone to see my need and rescue me. Let me tell you; that rarely happens. The damsel in distress storyline doesn’t work until she asks (screams) for help. The one I reach for first is God; I plead with Him in prayer and groaning. He does bring me through although not typically in the ways I think it should happen. The retrospective of my life has shown me without fail how He not only brought me through but grew my faith and made me stronger. We must remember that He will utilize other people and we need to allow other people to help. My missionary friend, David Federwitz, always used to say, “blessed to be a blessing.” I love this phrase! It reminds me that in reaching out to others and asking for help they gain something by helping too. It’s the ripple effect of living in a social environment. No one can help or be helped by someone else without being touched in some way.

            The Apostle Paul struggled with the concept of weakness as we read in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10; “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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.” When we are weak, we lean into God all the more and we grow in faith, we become stronger and gain wisdom through our experiences.

            Weakness has many faces. It may be physical, financial, emotional, mental or a weakness of faith. Each face brings its own set of challenges. Consistent in every challenge is the need to ask for help from God and from his people. Once we have been helped by another, we are more able to be a helper ourselves. We were not created to be loners; we were created to be in relationship with each other. Working through a weakness requires perseverance which leads to so much more as pointed out in Romans 5:3-5; “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

            So often we linger in weakness when all that is needed is the courage to reach out and ask for help or help someone else. In doing so we gain strength; we grow stronger in faith, stronger in compassion, stronger in relationships and strong enough to overcome any obstacle.