The Power of Weakness

I’ve never been able to comprehend how the men competing in the World’s Strongest Man lift five hundred pounds of weights or seven hundred and fifty pounds of beer kegs without breaking a bone or tearing a number of muscles in their body. With the aid of steroids, these men become extraordinarily strong.
While watching the show one afternoon, I noticed how each of them walks. It is absolutely hilarious. They are like waddling ducks with no hair and boasting massive veins. They are literally trying to move around the swollen masses attached to their own bodies. Then, I began to wonder: what would these large, testosterone-induced men look like minus the steroids, the protein, and the years of weight-lifting? Would we notice them or would we pass by them like the average Joe walking down the street? Would they still have this Hercules-like strength or have normal strength like you or me? I’m not sure of the answers to my questions but I do know that I still prefer the body I’m in. The somewhat normal 5’, 10 ½”, 145 pound body that gets me around this world just fine and dandy. These extra-muscled men might find myself as weak and little (which I kind of am), but I find great power in weakness.
I was reading a now favorite author of mine a couple of days ago. I came across some great lines written by the man himself, Brennan Manning, in his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. He is expounding on the idea of understanding our inner-being; the kind of person we know we are but once we find another small aspect of our own life, we continue to gain knowledge about the person we are or are not. In other words, we are perpetually mastering the self.
He writes, “(A)s you go through life, if you acquire any self-awareness, any kind of honest insight into your own personality, you know pretty well what your weaknesses are” (176).
A few chapters earlier of this quote, Manning provides his definition of honesty. He states, “(H)onesty simply asks if we are open, willing, and able to acknowledge our truth” (143). Therefore, once we gain a true, open, and willing acknowledgement of our self, we will lift the veil that covers our weaknesses. When we are able to confess our weaknesses, we can gain and grow toward a stronger, more integrated being. Hence, we gain power once we understand our feebleness.
Jesus teaches us about weakness in Matthew 26. We read in this chapter that He is scolding Peter for his inability to stay awake while He is agonizingly praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. His statement is a powerful message to those who live in a material world (which this includes pretty much everybody). While Peter and the disciples lie in the Garden dozing into another world, Jesus confronts Peter. He states, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:40-41). The Spirit willing yet the flesh weak.
The Greek term, pneuma, is translated as spirit. Spirit, according to the Greeks, is actually interpreted as “wind” or “breath.” Their language denotes so much more than the basic words of our everyday English usage. Latin is much more developed and dynamic. Put into context in Matthew 26:41, Spirit (pneuma) could be defined as the seat of perception, feeling, or state of mind, or as we inveterate English speaking people understand: this is the ego, the personality, or the character inside each one of us.
Jesus is illustrating that the pneuma or the ego is steadfast and active while the flesh, the body, will always have an unsatisfied hunger. The flesh is puny and temporary, never able to be fully complete no matter how much we yearn to fulfill its desires and wants. We can’t trust what the body wants but we can listen to the pneuma, the “Breath” whispering to us the certainty of life, the Truth before us, and the guarantee of what is greater to come.
So next time you are having problems with the ever-chaotic world, be sure to watch, pray, and be eager to listen to Him and the “wind” that feeds the fire to your heart and soul.