1 Corinthians 1:27-31
When You Feel Lowly and Weak
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
On Our Own Weaknesses
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Matthew 11:28-30
I Will Give You Rest
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
When Jesus was arrested and then went through His sufferings on the cross for us, and our sins -He could have stopped His pain and His sufferings at any time...He could have used any or all of the powers that God had given Him and walked away from the cross, the torture, the anxiety, the pain, all of it...He did not have to suffer -for us...But if He walked away from the cross, He would have been walking away from His helping and His saving of us...He paid the price for our sins, with His death on the cross...Jesus suffered, bled and died for us, but He knew the power of God...For even though He appeared weak on the cross, He was still strong...And by dying on the cross He became our Savior...
St. Paul teaches us that he to went through times of hardships, difficulties, suffering, persecution, pain, and at times imprisoned -while teaching about Jesus...St. Paul had these problematic and afflicted times in his life and wrote about them...The statements, that St. Paul wrote, that God chose the weak to shame the strong, and for when I am weak , then I am strong -take on a different meaning for most...The way of thinking for most of us, is that -I want to be strong, I want to be in control, I need to be stronger...Paul teaches us about weakness and that these control type statements can lead us to be prideful and conceited...Sometimes a weakness keeps one more conceited than usual...We are less prideful...God chose many of our weaknesses and the weaknesses in our world to shame the wise...
St. Paul had great faith...He took solace that in his weaknesses, he was closer to Jesus...He knew that material wealth and things, as well as fame -are not why we are here on earth...The believer knows when he suffers through his own afflictions that God is there...But the believer has a Godly hope -always looking, always praying to be better...The true Christian knows that God is near...When we fill our minds with God and His Son, it brings hope...The hope of from the Holy Spirit in us...
Weakness, pain, suffering and death are not the end of life...Jesus proved that...When we really think of Jesus and how He suffered for us, was He really weak?...His weaknesses proves how strong He is...His long tortuous, grueling, crucifixion for us, shows us how strong He is...For when He was weak, He gave us strength...For when He was weak, He saved us...His death on the cross shows His love for us...
I think St. Augustine sums up, when one is tired, burnt out, and weak...The Great Saint said "I have read in Plato and Cicero many very wise and very beautiful things...But I have never read in either of them "Come all to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest"...So when we are feeling weak and need His help, let us rest in Him...