Yesterday, I tweeted, “We are only as weak as our strongest link.” It wasn’t a typo. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a few days.
Often the Bible talks in counter-intuitive statements. Different than the normal flow. An unexpected rub against the grain.
If you want to gain, you must give up.
If someone takes your jacket, give them your shoes too.
If we are weak, then we are strong.
Tough stuff.
Good stuff.
Heart protecting stuff.
The minute I start feeling absolutely confident in my own strength is the minute I am desperately weak… and I don’t even realize it.
The Lord reminded me of this right before I stepped on stage to speak to 4500 women this weekend in Pensacola. One minute I was walking backstage to get my microphone on and the next minute I was on the ground with my face pressed into the cement floor.
My heel had gotten caught in a crack in the floor and that’s all it took to bring me down.
My first thoughts were not spiritual.
“Have mercy, I’ve probably split my pants wide open and there is no time to change!” And I had white pants on y’all. White!
I quickly picked myself up, put on the over ears microphone, and up on stage I went. I felt so incredibly vulnerable.
Inside my head I whispered, “Lord, I’m not ready. I don’t want to speak right now. I want to go crawl in a hole… with a mirror… so I can check my pants!” I tried as discretely as possible to check to make sure the seams in my pants were in tact.
And did I mention I was standing in front of 4500 women. Yes.
My heart drummed wildly in my chest and inside my head I whispered, “Jesus, I am completely desperate for You.”
And I imagine the Lord thought, “Good. Now, she’s ready. Now, this is going to be powerful.”
I’d left my strength… my confidence… my self-sufficiency back on that concrete floor. Next to the crack that tripped me up. And my weakness made room for God’s strength to take over.
My weakness wasn’t what almost messed me up that day.
It was my strength.
We are only as weak as our strongest link. Sometimes it’s not our weaknesses that leave us vulnerable to attack. Sweet sister, it’s our strengths. Those places where we feel especially confident, invincible, and quite able. But, as my friend Cile reminded me recently, “our strengths can become strongholds if we’re not careful.”
When Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh, the thing that made Paul feel weak, He did not. Instead, Paul was reminded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Paul goes on to conclude in verse 10, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Which leads me to wonder if the opposite is also true… where I am strong, then I am weak.
What strength could easily trip you up today? It’s good to be vulnerable enough to think about it and admit it. Ask for God to give you spiritual ears to hear any direction or correction He whispers.
Let me assure you, I’m listening for direction and correction for sure!
If we’re going to call ourselves people of faith, we must live lives that require faith.
Faith- walking the bridge where we cross over from relying on our strength to God’s strength. It’s a powerful walk to take.
However, I highly recommend not wearing high heeled shoes.
All week, I’ll be tweeting reminders, powerful verses, and inspirational thoughts to encourage you. If you want to join in follow me @LysaTerKeurst on twitter.
Thanks for being so real, Lysa.
I’m going to link to this post from my blog!
this is good. so good.
this is for me. so for me.
This story reminds me of the time I was hosting a Bible study of dear friends and as we talked, a roach crawled out of the fireplace (this was in Atlanta). Humility–what a great lesson to learn! (I’m still ticked at that insect.)
Love you, Lysa! You are SO real.
Lysa,
I was there, and God spoke mightly through you! Your book Made to Crave has been a blessing to me. I have lost 36 lbs and going..Thank you for listening to God and not man. Fran
Good word!
I was there, Lysa. You did great! It was my first year and it was started out right, with great speakers and great music. Your story touched me, and, I will admit it, I was crying by the time you were through. Thank you, Lysa, and God Bless You!
Boy this is so true and so needed for me right now. Our Pastor had some of the leaders from our church to pray for the babtismal candidates who got babtized yesterday and then we were to tell them what we heard from the Lord before they were babtized. We hadn’t done anything like that before so I was watching to see what everyone else did and was confident I knew what to do when they called the girls I was to speak to. Well when they called the first girl to come up I immediately jumped up and went to the microphone. Ugh!! I didn’t even wait for the girl to give her testimony or allow my pastor to call me up there. I really jumped the gun. My pastor was gracious and I made it through that. However, when they called the second girl up that I had prayed for, I did it again, in front of the whole church. This time I backed up graciously and sat down and waited for the pastor to call me up. Yuk Yuk I could see the disappointment in the Pastor’s face and the looks at me. This article has helped me. I am a very strong willed person and this is a humbling thing. I see I was relying on my strength when all the time I thought I was relying on the Lord’s. Thanks for speaking the truth in love and thank you Jesus for pointing that out to me. I qouted the right scriptures but wasn’t walking in it. Jesus is merciful and still loves me and I Him even more. I welcome the correction and instruction from the Holy Spirit. So much better for God to correct us than man. God bless you Brenda
Lysa, I have seen this displayed so well in our pastor. It seems every couple of weeks he is sharing about another leader he is accountable to. I really think this helps to keep us grounded and humble – someone who asks the tough questions. I need one of those persons in my life….
Love your definition of Faith.
This is good stuff Lysa! I had a similar experience… about a month ago when I was working out with my christian trainer I was crying that I was so frustrated it seemed to me that every time I tried to stick to it on eating right, and my working out I felt like I always gained more weight. I was tired of failure and I was blubbering to my trainer about this. I was humiliated yet she reminded me of what I had told her on a good day a few months prior. She asked me “Joan did you aske God to join you today when you ate and when you came here?” She was right I had been asking for His strength and His perserverence which I had little of that day because was trying to do this all on my own. He wants my progress to be for his glory not mine,I had stopped inviting Him into my kitchen and my workouts and I ran out of what it took to be successful. It is my deoendance on Jesus that keeps me on track when I begin to fall apart I know I have taken my eyes off of Him.
Hi Lysa,
I just want to tell you what an inspiration you are to me. On days when I felt no Hope, I would open an email from you & it was just what I needed at the time. Thank-you
Good stuff…good stuff. Cile and I had the chance to chat last night, so glad that she was able to connect with you and Holly on Friday. Can’t wait for y’all to come to Birmingham!!
Thank you for sharing your story. this is for me. i really needed to read this.
I LOVE THIS!! The Lord has reminded me of this many times, whispering to me, “You are not doing this…I am. Let me do MY work. Obediently follow me and I will use you. Let me do MY work.” Oh, I so need those humbling moments in the ministry He has set before me. Thank you for being transparent, as always. You are a true blessing.
Teske
You always seem to have a message that touches a part of me that I do not want anyone to make me feel. Thank you for your open ministry and willingness to share. The story of Henry moved me in a meaningful way to connect it to my daughter and her students. They are not often lovely to her. Their poverty has taught them defenses that are hard to break through. Yesterday she got a pink slip so her future is uncertain. My heart is breaking for her and those students who desperately need teachers like my devoted child who loves them still. Please help me pray for this situation. May we be able to see beyond the hurt and believe that better lies ahead for all.
Once again Lisa, Thanks, I can’t do nothing about what’s going on in my life but God can and I need to stop trying to do it for myself and walking in my own strength but in his.
I love how you said “If we’re going to call ourselves people of faith, we must live lives that require faith.” This is so simple, but so profound! Really got me examining my life.
One of my greatest strengths is in being the glue of my family, the one who gets it done and/or sees that it gets done, I keep the wheels moving. I often refer to my skills and myself (half-joking/half-serious as a heart attack) as being a highly successful logiistical engineer It’s a great source of pride and significance and purpose for me,….the Lord has recently been pointing out to me that this is the very thing that is so destructive in me! Me, me me and what I can do and how well I do it…..definitely has become a stronghold/stranglehold. It’s awful ugly
Thanks, Lysa, I read this one yesterday and am still thinking about it today. Came back to read it again today and could relate to the sister who posted before me (Deanna) so thought I’d share too. When I first read this blog, I did a little self-examining and thought about what strengths I have which could actually be strongholds and the Lord faithfully brought something to mind… Being the only non-ADD member in my family, it’s all too easy for me to be impatient with my kids and husband (especially hubby) with how SLOWLY they get things done. I often joke (half seriously like Deanna) that if anything ever happened to me, our home would be reduced to a smoking hole in the ground within the week. God has been speaking to me about my impatience lately and now that I think about it, has humbled me too by showing me that life will go on without my “wonderful efficiency”… I was injured recently in a way that resulted in my not being able to use my right arm for a couple of weeks and we survived and our home is only smoking a little (ok, it’s just messier than usual). Anyway, your blog made me think about how God has gifted my husband and I differently and that I shouldn’t judge him by my strengths any more than I would want to be judged by his. I really needed to hear this! Thank you so much for your openess. It really blessed me!
I have a totally uncommon name so I’m sure you don’t remember signing my copy of your “…Bible Study Girl” then having your picture taken with me (in the dark) after I told you my story about “my” Hailey but I just want you to know that your white pants didn’t show a sign of you falling back stage. You were WONDERFUL which is exactly how I expected you to be. I can’t wait till y’all come to Pensacola again next year. I WILL be there. You are an inspiration to me. BE THE SUNSHINE!!
)
Lysa,
Thank you for getting on that stage and speaking, even though you wanted to run. Yes, your message was VERY powerful. I was one of the hundreds of women who came forward Saturday and cried and prayed and (re)dedicated my life to Christ. Thank you: for not quitting, for starting your ministry, for listening to God.
I am so sorry you fell that was terrible but I do thank you for sharing your thoughts to help me. thanks so much
What a revelation I got from this message today and it’s more than just an eye opener…it’s a “heart opener”! TRUE HUMILITY indeed is when we know that “apart from Him, we are nothing”. Thank you for being such an inspiration. You always touch my heart with your messages.
I noticed what cute red shoes you had on that morning! Such great inspirational words you shared with us. Bless you, Lysa:)
What a great article. Very inspiring, honest and uplifting. It is so important to have humility or we get a reminder! Inspirational thoughts can help us get through the tough spots(or trips). You might be interested in an article I wrote on Inspirational thoughts: http://www.allowyourlighttoshine.com/spirit/inspirational-thoughts-emmas-teachings
Too your Highest Good,
Laura Meehan
Lisa
I was there in Pensacola and you were such a blessing. I know it was not easy for you to step onto that stage and recompose yourself but I thank you for pressing forward to touch the lives of so many.