I have heard some people say that God calls us in our area of weakness. That way when it happens we won’t take credit for it, but we’ll give God the credit. Let’s talk about it.
I suspect that this belief comes from 2 Cor 12:6-10 where it says:
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 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.
So people can point to the Bible and say, “See. It says it right here. God calls people in their area of weakness.” If I wanted to convince people that God calls us in our area of weakness, this is the passage I would point to.
But I’ve noticed that God works differently with different people. God sees into our heart. There are other cases where God called people in their area of strengths. Moses grew up in and around the Egyptian courts with pharaohs and rulers. It’s likely he was trained in leadership.
Paul, though he admits some ‘thorn in the flesh’ here, was a Jewish Bible scholar. He was the perfect person to connect Jesus’ life with the Old Testament and prophecies. David used his skills with a sling shot to slay Goliath. And Joseph already knew how to interpret dreams before he was called to use that skill.
I believe that God will use whatever we give Him to use. If we want to give God our weaknesses, He will use our weaknesses. If we want to give God our strengths, He will use our strengths. God can work with all of it. And by the way, God’s plan for us is way bigger than our best strengths, so we don’t need to worry that we’ll overshadow His handiwork in our life.
We generally guide people to start with their strengths. If the person isn’t specifically hearing from God, it’s much easier to start in an area of giftedness. We assume that God gave that person those strengths for a purpose, and we capitalize on that.
Whether we give God our strengths or weakness, let’s get going. God is waiting on you – and so are other people.
