For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colleen Chao writes in her thoughtfully and tenderly presented book, In the Hands of a Fiercely Tender God, that she has learned while battling terminal cancer that just as Jesus came to earth and lived as a man with all his physical limitations, we can learn it is okay to be weak. Hard lesson.
Suffering reveals who we are on the inside
Chao’s story is a sobering one for she has suffered on many levels for many years and she will tell you, it has taken a toll. But God.
Throughout her timeless devotion on discovering the wonder and beauty of God alone (despite the pain we endure in our lives here on earth), Chao leads fellow Christians to seek Him alone. Each of her emotionally evocative chapters peels away layer upon layer of our fleshly resistance that often gets in the way of knowing and loving our heavenly Father.
What’s wrong with weakness?
Chao writes, “It’s taken me a long time to learn to accept my limitations, but it’s taken me even longer to accept the fact that my limitations may be part of God’s good plan for others. Ultimately, no one needs me – but they do need God. And he will be to them what I cannot be. He will gently teach them that their happiness does not depend on me, and He will often raise up someone else who can care for them better than I could have. I rest in the question once posed to me by one of my best friends: ‘What’s wrong with weakness?'”
We can discover freedom even in our weakness
That said, we must ask ourselves the same question. What is wrong with being weak? Fragile? Limited? Finite? As Chao shares, ” All this letting go frees our hands to hold more tightly to the One who ‘knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.‘”
She challenges readers to look to Him who does indeed hold all things together for every ounce of strength, hope, grace, and courage this life requires of us. And we will find ourselves comforted and consoled by our good Father. The more we recognize and accept our frailty, the more easily (and swiftly) we will run to Him in our desperation and neediness. And it’s all good.
As this verse in Colossians reminds us, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” And this truth, my friends, is a very good thing to rest upon, contemplate, and consider each and every day.
Morning and evening, may we learn to quiet ourselves before our good Father and reflect upon our hours and days resting in the promise that God will give us all we need one day at a time. Not before we need it…not too late…but right on time.
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