Buck Up *OR* Buckle Up?

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
(2 corinthians 12:9, niv)

I never liked that verse much, but since I write about grace, I figured I could give it another look. See, to me, in my previous mindset of un-grace, I read, "Buck up you whiners, I gave you everything you needed." I was unable to hear the love because the judgement screamed louder. I was unable to feel the connectedness as I recoiled from the cold shoulder.

I am no theologian, just someone who pursues God, but I know, wholeheartedly, that it isn't until I accept my weakness that I can find God. Until then, I am still trying to be self sufficient and trying to not bother God with the "little" stuff. That is, until my back is against the wall and I cry for help like the toddler I am, "Daddy!" Only when I feel the pain of that thorn am I completely surrendered and I wait for Him. It isn't until I embrace that thorn that I find God's glory, though. It amazes me, again and again, what God does with our weakness, how He uses our weaknesses to reach out to others or make us more approachable, how our weakness helps us to rely more fully on Him and keeps us humble, and even when He is able to use us in spite of a weakness so that not only is someone else touched, but we are also aware and awestruck of God using us, enabling us.

When I think of perfection between opposites (power and weakness), I think of two things being complimentary to create wholeness. Yin and yang, day and night, Terry and Jaime..... When I am weak-buck naked honest about my weakness-trusting God to do His thing, His power shifts the entire situation. I am relying on a Power greater than myself to do for me what I could not do. Sounds familiar, huh? The mental picture I get is of God lifting up a toddler to "help" put laundry in the washer. Yep, God doesn't need us to help Him, but He wants us to hang out with Him. He wants to include us. That's the buckle up part. But we cannot do the work of God without His help. Without Him lifting us up, we couldn't reach the washer. With Him, His power, anything is possible, so be prepared for a wild ride.

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