Have you ever felt like this? Totally stripped of strength, totally worn out, totally exhausted and weak? I bet as a young mother, you have felt this way from time to time, or maybe quite often!

It was Friday afternoon. I was feeling weary, tired, down in the dumps and not well physically. I had many responsibilities to face over the weekend. I was not sure how I would be able to do it. I felt like giving up, feeling sorry for myself. I wanted someone to come and bail me out, to take over my responsibilities, to give me a break. But I knew that was not going to happen. I felt like crying. Tears were on the edge, stinging my eyes.

Then suddenly, I remembered Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12: 9-11 (NIV)….But he (the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Hmmmm, I thought, all right Lord. If that is truly the case, then you need to get me through this weekend. I need your power. Not only do I need the power of your strength, but I need the power of your love, the power of your joy, the power of your peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. In other words, I need refueling. I need your grace Lord…let it be sufficient for me.

I wasn’t testing God to keep his word to me. I was truly that low. And you know what? God did give me his strength; he kept refueling me moment by moment when I needed his perfection in my weaker moments. When I took my eyes off my circumstances, off my weakness, off my self and placed them smack on God’s almighty grace and power, I was able to overcome. And another thing I could see is this: There wasn’t this one big, amazing change that occurred. No, it required a steady dependency, a steady, moment by moment leaning on God. That is what gets us through…this steady, consistent leaning.

So continuing with Paul’s words in 2nd Corinthians: “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.”

I can honestly say that I am not going to actively seek out weakness, or seek out being stripped off my strength. Yet when circumstances and difficulties occur that make me feel that way, I can know for certain that “when I am weak, then I am strong.”

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26 (NIV)