High Hopes

So, your young child is going to grow up to cure cancer, right? Or become a professional athlete? Or the CEO of a global corporation? Or the president of the United States? Or the first person to land on Mars? Of course they will.

As parents, we all have high hopes for our little tykes. They are, after all, our pride and joy—the apples of our eyes. But as they grow older, they will quickly begin to realize their limitations, weaknesses, and fears. Lots of kids—and adults, for that matter—struggle with feeling small, powerless, and insignificant. All of us, to some degree, experience imposter syndrome in our lives:

I’m not good enough.
I’m not qualified.
I don’t deserve to be here.
There’s no way I could do that.

When it comes to the Christian faith, our kids can often read about the astounding accomplishments of the Bible’s great heroes and think, I could never do that. Actually, they can . . . but maybe not in the way we’d initially think.

If we truly understand how God operates, we’ll see our (very human) feelings of weakness, inability, and insignificance not as shackles of limitation but as what they truly are: the perfect proving ground for God to exercise his gracious, limitless power! When we feel weak, helpless, and utterly ordinary, that is exactly where God wants us to be! Humble, human weakness is the clay God uses to shape greatness.

Strength in Weakness: Scripture’s Paradox

Remember the apostle Paul’s account of his troubling “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12? “Three times,” Paul writes, “I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv.8–10).

Strength in weakness—what a paradox! What an utterly unnatural response for proud, sinful humans!

Think about all the great men and women of the Bible who did incredible things for God. They “conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, . . . became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” and “. . . received back their dead by resurrection” (Hebrews 11:33–35). In fact, “the world was not worthy” of them (v. 38).

Yet how did all the great saints of old begin their epic journeys?

Abraham was a pagan sojourner.
Moses begged God to send someone else.
Gideon was hiding from the enemy.
Ruth was a penniless, widowed Moabite.
David was an obscure shepherd boy.
Daniel was a young, enslaved exile.
Mary was a young, unwed girl from an obscure town.
Matthew was a reviled tax collector.
Peter was a salty fisherman and a Christ-denier.
Paul severely persecuted Christians.

The list could go on and on. None of the heroic saints of Scripture started out as anything special. None of them were already spiritual giants or history-makers when God called them. None of them had any special powers or noteworthy significance. Yet God did incredible, world-shaping wonders in and through them for his glory and the good of his people.

“Your child truly can do all things through God who gives them strength. God has amazing plans for your son or daughter. So encourage them to seek him in faith, love, and obedience. Remind them that their feelings of frailty or insignificance are okay because that’s the ground level where God starts building.”

God will do similar wonders in and through today’s kids too. God loves taking the weak and making them strong. He loves taking the common and making it utterly remarkable. He loves taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary. Because it’s all about his power and his glory, not ours.

As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 1:27–29, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

Hannah sang about this grand paradox in 1 Samuel 2: “He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor” (v. 8). Mary sang similar words in her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55). The writer of Hebrews echoes these thoughts, as well, when he says all those mighty saints of old “were made strong out of weakness” (11:34).

His Power, His Glory, Our Good

Quiz time! Below is one of Paul’s most well-known encouragements in the New Testament. Fill in the blank to complete Philippians 4:13.

“I can do all things through ________ who strengthens me.”

my own power
a great education
a workaholic mentality
Red Bull
him

If you guessed choice E, you’re correct! The “him” in the passage is, of course, the Lord.

Your child truly can do all things through God who gives them strength. God has amazing plans for your son or daughter. So encourage them to seek him in faith, love, and obedience. Remind them that their feelings of frailty or insignificance are okay because that’s the ground level where God starts building. If they’re feeling weak, limited, or scared, yet open to the Lord. . . perfect! They are perfectly positioned to see him display his power in their lives.

He wants to take their weakness and give them his strength. He wants to take their limitations and fill them with his heavenly power. He wants to take their ordinariness and make them extraordinary—for his glory and their good!

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

High Hopes

Strength in Weakness: Scripture’s Paradox

His Power, His Glory, Our Good