When I am Weak, Then I am Strong

One of the reasons I love to practice is yoga is that it makes me so much stronger. With each passing year I have given up more of my unrealistic desire for the perfect body. I will happily settle for being strong.

I was always a strong kid; never the most graceful or coordinated and not the fastest, but always strong. Then time, injuries, motherhood - life, I guess - conspired against me and I was no longer physically strong.

This past spring I was thinking a lot about wanting to be stronger and about different kinds of strength; emotional and spiritual strength that enables you to face hard circumstances and stand, brave, resolved and enduring.

Proverbs 31 describes the wife of noble character setting “about her work vigorously” with arms “strong for her tasks.” I’d think about that in yoga class. Lord, I want strong arms for my tasks! And can I get a little definition too? Nice, sculpted arms like Michelle Obama. Classy muscles.

Then, in the midst of meditating on strength and starting to feel pretty strong, I fell.

Not a private little stumble. No, it was a spectacular public spill in front of my middle school daughter and all her friends. Down like a tree, for all to see, crushing my left arm and shattering my pride. Strong? Not so much. Blind? Quite likely.

Thankfully nothing was broken but my arm hurt like it was. I ended up in a sling. And I was confronted with a graphic reminder that you cannot consider strength without thinking about weakness.

With my injury I was forced into dependence. I had to ask my kids to help with basic things like opening a peanut butter jar. I could not even open the shampoo in the shower. Simple every day tasks like getting dressed or opening a door became serious challenges.

My injured arm also caused me to move deliberately, cautiously and protectively. It occurred to me that imposed weakness is a powerful antidote to the hubris that sometimes hangs around strength.

When we are confident in our own strength we can be tempted into cockiness and even recklessness. I think of the Bible’s strong man, Samson, whose pride in his remarkable strength led to his downfall. Moving through life a little more slowly and carefully is not a bad idea.

This is one of God’s paradoxes - strength comes from weakness. When we rely on our own strength, we are weak. When we admit our weakness and trust in God, he delivers the strength we need.

When the apostle Paul pleaded with God to take away a trial that was tormenting him God answered him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul then tells us that for Christ’s sake he will delight in his weaknesses, “for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

My arm recovered and I was glad to get back to regular yoga practice. I’m still pursuing strong arms and a strong body but I also want to remember who takes my weakness and makes me strong - “It is God who arms me with strength” (Psalm18:32).

Funnily enough, verse 33 says “He makes me sure-footed as a deer.” I could probably use that too!