Our weakness is God's opportunity...

After sharing the wonderful news of my first blog giveaway, a friend reminded me that this could really boost traffic to my blog. That should excite me and get me really motivated, but it terrifies me to know that more people will see what I write, criticize my work or me, and I feel incapable and unprepared to deal with all that comes with "more traffic." However, my dear friend's next text gave me the hope and clarity to deal with the fear; she said, "we've been praying for an avenue to show how God worked [and works] in your life, I'd say this is a good answer to prayer."

I have for several weeks been struggling with feelings of inadequacy, and God has repeatedly brought me to 1 Timothy 4:11-16, where Paul writes Timothy:

"Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity...Do not neglect the gift you have...Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this..."

I am young, been married a short five years, have one child (and likely no more), my child is not yet four; I do not have years of life experience to draw on. To this day, my best intentions can turn into sin and failure; I find myself yelling angrily at my three year old, frustrated at a package that won't open, one drink can turn into one too many. I am not a perfect steward of finances. I am not good at establishing boundaries, getting housework done, or prioritizing my life. These are all areas I continue to work on in my life. I can list all day my faults, failures, and sin. My youth, inexperience, and continued failures bring me to a point of inadequacy and I feel like giving up before I start. However, Paul addressed this issue with Timothy, where perhaps he felt inadequate and young. Paul says "let no one despise you for your youth." I cannot allow my feelings of inadequacy to hinder God's work in me. Because, after all, I cannot, but HE can. With every every failure, every mistake I make, if I confess and repent, God grants me grace (1 John 1:9). So, I am reminded today of 2 Corinthians 12:9 "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."

So, I share more gladly my weaknesses, struggles, and insecurity, because Christ's power makes this blog, my writing, a possibility. It's important for me to keep trying, to continue to be a work in progress. If you followed my first couple of posts, you also realized I changed the name of my blog. After weeks of contemplation and various drafts that you may or may not see in the future, I realized what a work in progress I am, that my life is Jesus' work in progress. Darlene Schacht writes on her page, that she is "nothing without the grace of God," and that is where I feel I am. I am nothing without the grace and help of God. And, I see again where Paul addresses this issue, "set the believers an example [in four areas I hope to address in another post]... so that all may see your progress." To me, it seems that Timothy was young, did not have it all together, and was a work in progress for Jesus as well. Paul urged him to be an example, to live a life demonstrating Jesus to others in the way he spoke, lived, and treated others. And because no one has it all together, Paul reminds him to do so that others see his progress.

This is ultimately what I hope: to leave what is in the past there, learning from it, pressing on (Philippians 3:13-14), relying on God's grace (1 John 1:9), his strength in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) to set an example and show how God progresses a person; to show how God continues to use me as a work in progress.

I am inadequate, my closest friends see my inadequacies often, especially my dear husband (Thank you for loving me anyhow, Adam!). However, when I know I cannot, that is when I recognize it is by God's grace alone it's accomplished - like this blog. Do you see his hands at work in your life? I would love to hear about how Jesus continues to to help you, you dear work in progress.


Psalm 143:10 "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground."

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting..."

Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."