Thought - Weakness and Strength

I will be preaching this Sunday (14th Sunday Ordinary Time). As I read the second reading from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians I remembered a 'Thought for the Day' I wrote a couple of years ago. So I have dug it out to show you and recorded it as a podcast.

Please click hear to listen to the Podcast or you can read the text below.

Weakness and Strength


For the last few weeks I have had a lot to do at work. My boss has been away and I have been doing his job as well as my own. As a result I have been working extra hours, travelling a lot and dealing with some important and difficult decisions. On the whole I have enjoyed the experience, but there have been times when I have been very tired and have made mistakes. But, all in all I am very proud of what I have done.

But yesterday I read a small verse in St Paul's letter to the Corinthians. “I shall be happy to make my weaknesses my special boast....For it is when I am weak that I am strong”. Paul was pointing out that when his abilities failed, Christ would take over, and therefore when he was at his weakest, with Christ he was at his strongest.

This got me thinking, should I be proud of what I have done?
Had I been excluding Christ from my work?
So I started thinking about what had happened and it wasn't long before I started to see where my weaknesses were and where Christ had steeped in.

When I came home late each evening Gail provided my favourite food, including two lemon meringue pies. When I worked past the last bus Sonny gave me a lift. When I felt lonely on the train a stranger started talking to me. When the work got difficult in London I met a new friend David who showed me what to do. When I forgot to do part of my normal job, Shaun just did it for me. When I needed to talk through something confidential, Adrian always had time to listen and advise. When I accidentally sent a confidential email to my team they laughed about the mistake instead of getting annoyed.

It was in my tiredness, my loneliness and my mistakes that I was most cared for. And it is in that caring, that love we have for one another, that we can find God working most strongly.