“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.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)
As athletes, we are all pushing ourselves past our limits in order to be better for competition. We practice, train on the side, eat well-balanced meals, spend time doing active recovery, get as much sleep as possible, and then repeat the same cycle again. All of this to be the best athlete possible. All of this to eliminate our weaknesses. So how does the Bible imply that our weakness is the key to a successful athletic career?
After 19 years of dedicating my life to soccer, I am finally able to hit the pause button and reflect on my journey as an athlete. Everything I did was an attempt to get stronger and better. And yet, throughout middle school and all the way to my senior year of college, I found myself burnt out -- questioning why I was putting myself through this ordeal.
Barely 5’4 and having a smaller frame, my greatest challenge was my physicality. I cannot recall a single season where I went without an injury. It was easy for me to lose muscle and because of this, I was constantly in pain, and stressed about my lack of strength. The most frustrating part was knowing God could fix this -- that He could easily heal me. I devoted my life to Him, tried my best to be selfless despite my desire to play, and pushed myself at every practice. So why could He not honor that hard work by relieving the pain my body was experiencing?
Today’s verse gives us a counter-cultural way of thinking as the Apostle Paul challenges our views on weakness. In this world, we do not boast about our weaknesses and we surely do not delight in difficulties. So as athletes, how do we live this out -- especially when the goal is to become stronger and better everyday?
Finally, in my fifth year of collegiate soccer (yes it took this long!) I gave up. I did not give up on the sport, I did not give up on God, but rather I gave up my need and expectation to be a perfect athlete. When Paul says to delight in our weakness, he is not telling us to be lazy and complacent. In fact, God calls us to work diligently and to steward well the gifts He has given to us. Rather, delighting in our weakness means recognizing we are imperfect...lacking (and being okay with this fact), and then surrendering ourselves to God. Living in weakness is a part of life. It is in our nature. We were born into a broken and fallen world and thus, we struggle. Working hard is essential, but constantly striving is not.
The moment we recognize our own efforts are not going to work, God’s power can be magnified. When I fully surrendered my weakness over to Him, I was able to experience peace and joy -- something I had been missing for so long. I continued to train outside of practice to get stronger, but I gave myself grace when my body ran out of fuel. I was constantly talking to God, asking Him to give me strength because I realized I could not do it on my own. While I did not experience full recovery, I was able to get through practices and games playing some of the best soccer of my life. I was no longer in my head telling myself to push through no matter how bad my body was burning. Instead, I was asking God to take over and sang worship songs in my head praising Him for the work He was doing.
So yes, weakness is key to success because it forces you to realize your limits as an athlete and allows you to partner with the King of the universe. Weakness is a reminder that it is not about us. Even if you have experienced great success in your collegiate career, imagine how much more freedom you could have going forward by acknowledging where you struggle. I wish I could sit down and talk to you about all of the wonderful things God has done through my weaknesses.
More than ever, we need this truth to seep into our hearts right now. While I only discussed how to embrace weakness within your sport, we need this mindset in every aspect of our lives. This virus has us grasping, reaching for something more. We feel helpless, anxious, and weak because we have no control. This lack of control, my friend, is the sole reason why we need to lean on God, surrender our need to be strong, and allow Him to enter those areas of weakness.
God longs for you to experience everything your sport and life has to offer, which includes the trials. I promise you embracing weakness will never disappoint because when we are able to give God full control, only then are we able to experience a strength that can only come from Him.
Dear Father, I am sorry for trying to do things in my own strength. I recognize that striving only exhausts me and burns me out from something you designed for my good. Because I am human, I know there will always be something holding me back from reaching perfection. Right now, I ask you to be my strength. I can no longer do everything on my own. I embrace my weaknesses, knowing they can be used for your good. I am tired of running away from them. While I will continue to work hard to be the best athlete I can be, I accept my limitations. They do not make me any less of an athlete. They do not define my worth. You call me worthy and that is enough. Use my weaknesses for your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
