This devo was adopted from one given by Frisbee at the start of staff training this summer.

I want to share a passage that's very special to me. It's carried me through many low points, and God has used it to speak to me over and over — probably because I keep needing to hear it.

This passage was written by Paul, a.k.a. Saul, a.k.a. the person who HATED followers of Jesus and hunted them down to destroy them — until he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and it changed the course of his life.

Paul is a dude who, reading his letters, you realize how much he truly understands the messiness of ministry and living a life following Jesus. Paul experienced many of the same challenges, struggles, and doubts that I do in ministry, and he speaks with conviction and passion about how Jesus is there in the midst of it.

And in this passage, Paul is talking about feeling weak.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

My first summer serving at camp, I remember many moments where I felt very weak. I served as a counselor at Camp Luther in northern Wisconsin (a place just a little bit colder than southern Indiana, ha ha). And as a strong introvert, the constant social nature of camp made me feel very ill-equipped for the job.

I can remember many moments where I felt so very weak — where I realized how little strength I had to face what I was facing, where I looked at other people and said, “God, why didn't you make me like THEM. I could do this so much better...”

But now, after 17 years serving in camp ministry, working at 3 different camps, and serving alongside hundreds of staff in those years....

I still feel that same weakness.

Except now, I also see Jesus in it.

The crux of this passage is the words Jesus speaks to Paul. The NIV translation is written above, but a different translation goes like this:

“My grace is all you need, because my power works best in weakness.”

My pastor in high school gave a sermon on this verse with this specific version, and it lodged deep in my brain. There have been countless low moments since then where those words have kept beating in my head like a heartbeat.

“My grace is all you need."

"My power works best in weakness.”

My hope, and my prayer, is that the Holy Spirit makes those words echo in your heart and mind. Because His grace IS all we need — the grace of Jesus, freely and tenderly given to us.

Who met us in our weakness and became weak himself so we could know his strength.

Jesus continues to meet us in our weakness, every day, for as long as we're on this earth.

And unimaginably, he works through our weakness, because when we face things too big for us to handle, it helps us rely on Jesus and trust him more and more.

When I think I'm strong, that's the trap, because I forget just how much I need Jesus.

So let's be weak.

Let's be weak so that pride has no place to grow in our hearts.

Let's be weak so that our hearts stay tender and forgiveness abounds.

Let's be weak so that praise is always pointed to God, never to us.

Let's be weak so that we rely on God's grace more and more each day.

Let's be weak and trust that the power of Christ is made perfect in weakness.

Let's be weak.

And trust that Jesus will be strong.