The Respectability of Honest Weakness

I haven't posted any of my journal devotionals in a while so I thought I would post today's. I wrote this today in my sacred space (or Starbucks to other people) at my regular time early this morning. Hope you enjoy it!

Today I read Exodus 3-5 and Luke 22. It is interesting that God chooses people who are not perfect to serve him. You would think the God of the universe could choose people who have no flaws or very little flaws. Or, at least, you would think he would not talk about their flaws in the Bible. Especially the flaws of leaders that he chose and established.

In our society we think that perfection or the appearance of it is something we should strive for. Heaven forbid that anyone ever know that we failed at anything. So we go about life trying to look as perfect as possible. We all know that perfection is not really possible so we admit to a few flaws that we are pretty sure everyone else struggles with or ones that are socially acceptable. Somewhere along the line we bought into the lie that true respect comes from being as close to flawless as possible.

The reality is that people really don't respect those who pretend to be perfect. Most of the reason for this is that we can see the flaws of another person better than that person can see it in themselves. So it is like having a person who says they never make mistakes make one right in front of you and still hold onto the belief that they don't make mistakes. We don't really respect people like that even if we are polite to them and don't point out those flaws. The people that we most respect are those who make mistakes but are able to admit them, make amends and move on. There is something very attractive about authenticity and humility. We want to support those kind of people and root for them to do well.

God knew this when he chose people he knew were flawed and had weaknesses. He saw their strength of character behind the image that others had of them and he chose them even when they didn't think they were worthy of being chosen. Take Moses. Here is a man who God used in mighty ways and became famous enough that most people in our society today know who he is. But Moses was flawed. He had a temper problem that lead him to kill a man. He had stage fright so much so that he argued with God over whether he was the right guy to send because he couldn't speak in front of people. Yet God still chose this short-fused-stage-fright of a leader to lead his people Israel out of Egypt on one of the most miraculous and important journey's of their lives.

Take Peter. Here was a guy who was a fisherman by trade who had no problem talking, so much so that he kept putting his foot in his mouth. Peter was not educated, he was not well spoken, he was a wild card that you never knew what he would say or do and most times he would probably embarrass you. This same guy who with one breath committed to dying with Jesus, chose to deny that he even knew Jesus when the true prospect of losing his life was presented to him. God chose this man to be God's spokesman at the start of the church and before government officials.

Each of these guys had weaknesses but each of these guys also did mighty things for God. They both had in common the commitment and loyalty needed to see something through and the faith to follow God's commands no matter where they led. Their weaknesses make them human to us and easy to relate to. Their admission of their weaknesses and how they handled their failures shows us what authenticity looks like. Their weaknesses give us hope for our own lives as we seek to follow God.

*Lord, thank you for using ordinary people to do extraordinary things for you. It gives me great hope in my own life to know that you can use flawed people for perfect purposes. Please help me to be a man of faith who has the steadfastness to see my calling through. Amen.*

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