God Uses our Weaknesses

Who would imagine that Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Life fame lives with a rare brain disorder that causes him to experience clouded vision, headaches, and in some situations, loss of consciousness.

Jeffrey Sheler writes in his biography of Warren, Prophet of Purpose, "The Mayo doctors . . . told Warren that he suffered from a rare brain disorder that prevented his nervous system from properly processing adrenaline, a hormone that is released by the adrenal glands in moments of sudden stress or fear."

What's more stressful than speaking to thousands on a weekly basis? Sheler quotes Warren on adrenaline and stress.

Adrenaline is a public speaker's best friend. . .If you don't have adrenaline you're boring. Adrenaline gives you passion. But adrenaline also makes it painful for me. The very thing that I need in order to do what I need to do becomes a source of pain.

How does Warren respond to living with a brain disorder that causes pain when he obeys God's will for his life? Listen to this.

People ask me, "Rick, do you ever get proud talking to all thise people?" I say, "You have no idea. I'm saying, 'God get me through this.' It creates a sense of dependency, a sense of humility - what Paul would call a thorn in the flesh. It's been a governor on my life that keeps me focused on God rather than focusing on the crowds.'

Wow! What an attitude. Like the apostle Paul, Warren recognizes that in his weakness he is strong in Christ. Warren lives out 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 which says:

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.

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.

Friends, do we boast about our weaknesses in order to experience Christ's power? Do we delight in our weaknesses and find our strength in Christ? Or do we try to appear strong in order to fit in? Do we depend on our own strength and try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps? That's the American way.

Living with fibromyalgia for over 25 years has caused me to depend on God for strength. I know whatever gets accomplished in my life it's because of Christ's power, not mine.

Sometimes I fall back into the trap of wanting to appear strong and having it all together. I want people to think well of me. But I will never have it all together until I'm out of this body and at home with the Lord.

I pray for me and for all of us that our desire would always be to please God and not look to man for approval. I pray that, like Paul, we would delight in our weaknesses, giving Christ the opportunity to show His strength to a doubting world.