{{2012_09_03_t1.jpg}} {{2012_09_03_t2.jpg}} {{2012_09_03_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2012_09_03|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_iv|| Topics Collection iv ]] ======The role of my weakness ...====== Monday, Sept 3, 2012. What is the role of my own weakness? In an environment where mainly achievement counts, weakness is nothing we would be particularly proud on or we would put into a prominent role! {{2012_09_03.jpg }} **Where weakness helps ...** The weekend was an interesting experience for me. I have been jogging on Saturday, did my 14 or 15 km large round, where I usually try to be fast on the first five or 10 kilometers, then just go slowly for the rest of the round. I felt quite strong! But then, on the night between Saturday and Sunday, my back started to ache and I got a kind of lumbago. Sunday at 5 in the morning I was barely able to get out of my bed ... I took some medicine and went back, so at least at 8 I managed to get up - I had to go to our church, since I was the pianist with the band for the worship service at 10. I felt quite weak that morning - with the back which was half aching, half on its way to recovery, with the strange night behind me, full of pain ... so somehow my mind was extremely open to the words, which we heard, to the stories, to the biblical texts, to the sermon, to the music (which was great, by the way). It seems that being weak can help a lot, to be open to listen, to open your mind and your heart ... The words of the Lord seemed more clear to me this morning. The message about the grace of God seemed even brighter than on a usual day. The consolation of the Lord was close to my heart, his mercy, his friendliness, his surpassing love. Yes! {{ 2012_09_03_2.jpg}} **Blessed are the poor ...** The bible does not look for the strong, but for the weak. Could it be that weakness is closer to reality than strength? Weakness shows us the limits of our existence, and there ARE strong limitations to everything we do, to everything we want, to all what we feel, desire and hope. Weakness shows us where we really are. We are naked before the Lord, he can see it all. Jesus is blessing the poor. He is blessing the meek. He is blessing those who mourn. Those who are ill and unable to perform. Weakness is not failure. Weakness can be our main strength. The apostle Paul writes about this experience in 2 Corinthians 12: Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. 10 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. (Roland Potthast) [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_iv|... more texts]]