The Importance of Weakness

By Shannon Ready

Recently, my eldest child started kindergarten.  Though an emotional time for me, she was quite content with the whole arrangement and was quick to inform me in the first few minutes after our arrival that I could go now.  As I stood around looking bewildered, not quite ready to leave, but knowing there was no reason to stay, I began chatting with some of the other mums.

I find that four is one of the most fascinating of ages in a child.  Children of this age are old enough for adults to clearly see their personalities, strengths, likes and dislikes emerging, but they have not yet completely come under the sway of the ‘peer group.’  It is almost as if you can see most clearly the ‘raw material’ of humanity.  I enjoy the simplicity of their responses; when they are happy it is a pure happiness, and when they are not, well, though difficult to live with, you know that nothing is hidden.  They can take pride in their achievements and are not self-conscious of their failures, because they have not yet entered the age where they fear what others think of them, nor do they think that their worth is found in what they can do.

As I watched the children playing in the kindergarten I realised again how diverse God has made us for His good purpose.  It is so easy, as a mum, to worry about the ‘apparent weaknesses’ of our children so that we almost dismiss their strengths.  Yet God has made each and every child specifically for His purpose.  Many of the mothers of boys were worried that their boys were so active they were completely uninterested in sitting down writing their own name or drawing a picture.  The mother of a girl was worried about her child’s ‘bossiness’.  Then I could feel my own fears for my ‘sensitive child’ eating away at my peace of mind.  Yet the Bible is clear that God thinks of both weakness and strength in quite a different way from the way we think of them.  God told Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’  2 Corinthians 12:9.  What an interesting thought, that God actually gave us weaknesses for a reason.  Weaknesses are not something to be ashamed of.  They are actually the very things that teach us to cry out to God and to grow close to others simply because we have need.  Similarly, the apostle Paul declared that strengths have not been given for our own glory, but so that we can bless and build others up.  Romans 12.

What a challenge for me, as a mum.  I long to be able to teach my children to be thankful for their strengths without being conceited, but equally thankful for their weaknesses, because both bring us close to God and others.