My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

 

Imagine looking in the mirror one day and realizing that you couldn’t smile!

Sarah Ruhl had recently given birth to twins when she discovered, to her horror, that her face had become paralyzed. Suddenly, she could no longer smile or control her facial expression. So many silent cues for communication and connection were lost to her- a smile, a frown, an understanding look.

Sarah shared about how she battled a deep sense of shame over her lack of control over her own face. But as she processed her illness, she discovered an unlikely truth. It’s not our perfection that invites people in, making them feel accepted and understood– It’s our imperfections, asymmetry, scars, and flaws.[1] Our weaknesses validate the unique, strange, and imperfect in our neighbors. Our weakness, seen through this lens, doesn’t disqualify us. Instead, it qualifies us with a richer sense of compassion, tenacious courage, and love that sees what others miss, intentionally welcoming those others pass by.

Jesus made Himself voluntarily weak when He became a human and died on the cross. And He invites us in our weakness to come to Him, promising that He delights in meeting us there. In the words of Jesus to another weak follower, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Jesus’s invitations are to the sick, the sinners, the broken, the needy, the hungry, and the lonely. No one is too weak or asymmetrical. All are loved, essential, and a part of His beautiful plans.

May you, too, find God in your weakness. He became weak, so you could find Him there, just as He finds you.

[1] Ruhl, Sarah. Smile: The Story of a Face. The Bodley Head, 2022.