Strength in weakness

Earlier today, 34-year-old Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge accomplished what many thought to be an impossible feat, when he became the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, beating the mark by 20 seconds.  If my calculations are correct, that equates to an average speed of around 16.5 seconds for every 100 metres of the course, which is probably quicker than I could currently run 100 metres, never mind keep it going for two hours!  Eliud’s wife, Grace, was there to greet him at the finishing line, apparently the first time she has witness him racing live.  Some have likened the magnitude of the achievement with Roger Bannister’s breaking of the 4-minute-mile mark back in 1954.

Kipchoge commented afterwards, "This shows no-one is limited."  I greatly admire his self-belief and his absolute commitment to accomplish what seemed to be an impossible task.  I am sure, also, that there many occasions when people fail to even attempt something because they are wracked with self-doubt.  On the other hand, however, we have to admit that we human beings do have our limits, and we should not pretend otherwise.

One of the many aspects of the Bible which I love is that it does not attempt to gloss over the weaknesses and failings of many of the characters contained within its pages.  Take, for example, the character of Moses.  Despite his privileged upbringing, when the third chapter of the biblical book of Exodus opens we find him as a fugitive in a foreign land, engaged in the humble task of a shepherd, working for his father-in-law.  In that desert place he had an amazing encounter with God.  God revealed to Moses that not only did God recognise the desperate situation of his people in slavery in Egypt, but that God had a plan to rescue them.  It was then that God dropped the bombshell – Moses was the person God had chosen to lead the people out of slavery to the promised land!

No doubt Moses was shocked by this pronouncement, and when he had recovered sufficiently to speak, all he could say was, “I am nobody. How can I go to the king and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3.11).  Moses had such a low self-image that he couldn’t begin to believe that he could fulfil the commission God was placing on him.  No way!  The following verse reveals to us God’s response: ‘God answered, “I will be with you.”’  The conversation between Moses and God continues into chapter 4, as Moses comes up with excuse after excuse why it really was “Mission Impossible.”  Ultimately, however, he does say yes to God, and in God’s strength he did eventually lead the people out of slavery in Egypt and is now regarded as one of the great men of faith in the Old Testament.

I find episodes like that hugely encouraging, because it shows that in God’s strength and with God's presence, ordinary flawed individuals can accomplish things which they could never hope to have done if they had relied on their own abilities.  Indeed, it seems to me that one of the qualifications to be truly used by God is to recognise our own weaknesses.  When God called me into the Methodist ministry over 30 years ago, I knew that I could never in a million years undertake that role in my own strength.  Time and time again over the ensuing years I have come face to face with my own weaknesses and human frailty, yet somehow God has helped me through.  At times, it was only the knowledge of God's presence and of his calling on my life that kept me going.  As God said to the Apostle Paul, 'My strength comes into its own in your weakness' (2 Corinthians 12.9).

One of my childhood memories is of my elder sisters regularly telling me “There’s no such words as ‘can’t’”  With God, that’s true!