For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (ESV)

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NIV)

Growing up, my grandmother lived on the coast of North Carolina, and we would visit her every summer. While we were there, my sister and I would spend long, lazy days playing at the beach. They were some of my fondest childhood memories. 

I wasn’t a strong swimmer though, and sometimes I became afraid of all the unknowns below the crystal surface. I’d heard about riptides that could drag you out much farther than you meant to go, and I knew firsthand that tides turned shallow water deep while you weren’t paying attention. 

It’s been years since I’ve been to the ocean, but I still remember so clearly what it feels like to be acutely aware of my weakness and the water’s strength. To feel like I could be taken under any moment. Now that I’m an adult, I can feel this same pull emotionally. The world tells us when we feel weak, we just need to stand taller, speak louder, and outwork anyone or anything who would threaten our independence. To find strength in ourselves. 

But the apostle Paul offers a different response, one of calm acceptance and dependence; a posture of humility. When he said he was content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, he wasn’t talking abstractly or in theory. He knew them all, and yet he said he was content for the sake of Christ. The “secret” to his strength was not swimming harder against the current, but clinging to the sturdiness of God. 

During those childhood days at the beach, my dad would sometimes come into the water with my sister and me. When we held his hands, we could stand confidently against the waves, even embrace them, and enjoy their power. The water swirled around us, but I felt steady and protected, my small hand held tight by his. 

Charles Spurgeon once famously said, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” He too, knew intense hardship, but he let the “waves” of this life bring Him closer to the steadfast love of God his Father, rather than letting them drag him down.

Day-to-day life has a way of dragging us down if we are not clinging to something sturdy. But like the apostle Paul, if we cling to the strength of Jesus, if we choose to be content with our weakness, we’ll find His steadfast love has greater power than anything we face. 

Written by LeeAnn Randall