Power In Weakness

Power in Weakness

Three different times I begged the Lord to take [the thorn in my flesh] away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Hannah Hurnard, an English girl who was born in the early 1900s, had such a profound stuttering problem that she didn’t shop or ride on a bus without her sister or mother. She was so afraid of being ridiculed that she didn’t talk with other children, and consequently, she had no friends. Her whole childhood was spent in loneliness.

With every year, Hannah fell deeper into despair. She became so depressed that she longed to commit suicide. Finally, at the urging of her father, she attended a Keswick evangelistic meeting. There, at age nineteen, she came to Christ and put herself on the altar, stuttering, fears, and all. Her fears didn’t evaporate, however. Although she loved God and was growing in Christ, she still struggled with a fear of heights, crowds, the dark, death, and especially speaking in front of a group. And although she asked God to, he didn’t take away her stammer; it still hindered ordinary communication with others.

One day Hannah was invited to address a Bible school audience and was overwhelmed by physical panic. But this time, instead of letting her fears paralyze her as they had before, she ignored them, and in obedience to God, she began to speak. She later said that she felt as if Jesus were standing next to her, speaking through and for her. She communicated her message without a stammer or a mistake. Those who heard her that day, and over the years when she served as an evangelist in the United Kingdom and the Middle East, felt that God had given her a gift of speaking. In regular conversation, the stammer remained. But when she spoke in factories, missions, church meetings, or hospitals, it was never apparent. Hannah learned to walk by faith and always go forward as if she could see the Lord next to her, reminding her that his grace was sufficient for her and his strength was made perfect in weakness. —CHERI

Lord, instead of a platform for fear, may my every weakness be an opportunity to experience your strength, grace, and power.

Take my will, and make it Thine,

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own;

It shall be Thy royal Throne.

—FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL (1836–1879), ENGLISH POET AND HYMN WRITER