Weak - A Five Minute Friday Post

Oh my... it's been a long awhile again since I have been able to hang out with the Tribe and I am missin' y'all! I'm writing #fmfparty on my Bossy List of things to do next week!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: WEAK

{GO}

The first thing that comes to mind is "Cornerstone"... because, of course, right?

"Christ alone; cornerstone

Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love

Through the storm, He is Lord

Lord of all..."

This, in turn, draws our attention to the ever familiar verse by Paul, when the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2Cor12:9)

I love how this verse reads in The Message:

"My grace is enough; it’s all you need. 

My strength comes into its own in your weakness."

Wow... so, who doesn't want THAT, right? 

To have HIS strength come into its own in my weakness? Yes, please!

Really - the call to be weak is the call to be vulnerable. To be honest... to be authentic and not muster up fake strength or to do whatever 'needs to be done' to save face.  

Let's leave the saving to our Savior!

I think weakness, in our Western culture, is so looked down upon because we don't want to appear weak... or needy... or less than. We are a fiercely independent people. 

And yet...

And yet, we aren't.  

We were never called to be alone and self-sufficient! 
We were made for community and we are wired for need. 

It's when we are bold enough to say, 'Hey... I'm feeling weak here' that God rushes in and it's in our weakness that He shines bright and His strength is made manifest.  

The strength of His grace... and mercy... and unchanging love.  The strength of Who He is and how He is living inside of us and how He is always, always redeeming... always, always pulling us closer and pouring Himself -- and His strength-- into us. 

But it's not for us! 
It's for everyone else!

We were never made to be a lake... we have RIVERS inside of us, waiting to get out! 

And how does water bust through barriers or break down walls? It's through the weakest points.

I am a firm believer in Rest and in laying beside still waters... some pools are gifts from God... but most often, those pools of refreshing are only meant for a season and I believe the Lord is saying:

"Now is the time to let it out... let it flow! 

Be bold and courageous in your ability to not save face and to not pretend. 

Be real and honest and live in humility and community, needing and meeting needs...

Let streams of living water flow through you... part of how you do that is you are willing to be weak, and let Me be strong!" 

{STOP}

I haven't written for awhile and I wasn't quite sure where this one was going... but know that I have been reading Unoffendable by Brant Hansen (I highly recommend it!) and I think so much of our unwillingness to appear weak is tied to our culture and what we think 'strong' is.

I love how The Message says God's strength comes into its own in our weaknesses.  We must first be willing to be weak... and in that, His strength rises up. 

He fights for us... and the phrase that He keeps whispering to me over and over in these last few weeks is this:

"I'm better than you think... better than you can hope or imagine!"

And He really is, friends! 

No matter how good you know Him to be...
He's better still!

And I leave you with this: "Cornerstone" performed by Hillsong Worship:

Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about: "WEAK"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:

#FreshMarketFriday...

Barbie Swihart for #Glimpsesofhisbeauty