August 21 – Strength in Weakness
When the soul learns humility, she becomes stronger than all the powers of the world, for her strength is the Lord’s and not her own. Abba Poeman
Gregg’s Reflection
We Enneagram 8’s don’t like weakness. We resist it, cover it up, or push it aside. Yet Paul reminds us that it is precisely in weakness where God’s power is most visible.
I’ve known this in my own life when circumstances brought me to the end of myself — times when I could no longer rely on my own skills, resources, or resolve. Strangely, those were also the times when I most deeply experienced God’s presence. Grace filled the gaps I could not.
This is the paradox of faith: when we release the illusion of control, God’s strength has room to flow through us. Weakness becomes the very place where divine power is revealed.
Scripture
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.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Ancient Quotes
Even if we are not able to do great things, God gives us grace to bear what is beyond our strength; and in our weakness His power is made manifest.
John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Corinthians 12
When the soul learns humility, she becomes stronger than all the powers of the world, for her strength is the Lord’s and not her own.
Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers), Abba Poeman
Make peace with your weakness and you will see that it becomes a door into the mercy of God.
St. Isaac of Nineveh, Ascetical Homilies
Modern Quotes
Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage,
Brené Brown, Daring Greatly, p. 34
It is in deep humility and weakness that we find the secret of strength; it is when we are nothing that we are in fact strong.
Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, p. 38
Journaling Prompts
- Where in your life do you feel weak, limited, or powerless right now?
- How might that very place become an opening for God’s grace?
- What illusions of control do you sense God inviting you to release?
Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 34 Reflection: Power of God/Power of Grace