This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.
More from Marva Dawn's
Even as Christ accomplished atonement for us by suffering and death, so the Lord accomplishes witness to the world through our weakness. In fact, God has more need of our weakness than of our strength.
We are easily convinced that our identity is based on our ability - that our value as a nation comes from being a superpower able to crush enemies across the globe, that our worth as congregations is dependent on packing more people into the pews or more programs onto the calendar, and that our status as the beloved of God is bound up with our résumés. And it is only a short step for us to assume that the only way God can get anything done is through our strength - in armed forces, in numbers and offerings, or in skills acquired. So it is disappointing, even threatening, to take an honest look at ourselves and to see all the ways we don't have it all together and to admit all that lies beyond our power. But God isn't disappointed with our weakness, and God hasn't settled for us. God has chosen us, knowing our limitations. God has called us, intending to working through our weaknesses. What on earth will that look like? We have no idea - only the promise that it is up to God to make it happen.
Connection: God will truly be at work in us and through us today - maybe in ways that we will never know about.
Lord, take the fragile pieces of me - the jumble of gifts, thoughts, loves, feelings, and flaws that comprise who I am - hold them as you always have in your sure and gentle hands, and use them in this day.
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