A Spectacle Of Glory #351

Read: 2 Corinthians 13:4

Achilles was a ferocious Greek warrior, and legend has it that he died from a wound to the back of his heel. So when we describe someone’s “Achilles’ heel,” it means a person’s point of weakness that can lead to a downfall. But as pastor Jonathan Parnell writes, “That idea comes from Greek mythology, not Christian reality. God’s wisdom gives us another picture. Believers in Jesus don’t have an Achilles’ heel—we are an Achilles’ heel.”^a

Normally, when a person’s weakness is taken advantage of, it can mean defeat and disgrace. But when we as Christians embrace our weakness, God exploits it for our triumph and His glory. It can happen for you every time you freely own and acknowledge your greatest weaknesses or vulnerabilities. When that happens, a flood of life-giving grace rushes in, seeking the lowest level of your weakness, filling you from the bottom up. In that moment, you have heaven-sent power to live, not in spite of your limitations, but because of them.

Lord, this is a message so at odds with today’s culture. Our world teaches us to hide or deny our weakness, but You teach us to gladly own it and receive sufficient grace that more than compensates for everything we lack.