WEAK BUT STRONG
(John Humphries)

This paradox looks to Hebrews 11:34 where the “weak” were made “strong”. These were people of faith in God many years before New Testament times. They were able to prevail against overwhelming forces and extreme challenges because of their faith. They would appear to be weak and small in the eyes of the world. But they were examples of spiritual strength because of God's grace and mighty hand. Through the trying and testing of their faith, they became strong in the Lord (Jas. 1:2-4). There are lessons here for us (Rom. 15:4).

At times, we may cry out in pain and despair. But we must take the long view of trusting in the comfort of the Lord (2 Cor. 1:3-5). After Jacob was informed that he had lost Joseph, and Benjamin was to be taken, the elderly Jacob said, “All these things are against me” (Gen. 42:36). But, how mistaken he was in the long view. The taking of Joseph was God's way of preserving Jacob and his family from the severe famine (Gen. 45:5; 50:20). 

There are, in our lives, painful circumstances which seem against us and which we cannot understand at the time. Yet, by the hand of God, these trying circumstances may, in the long term, work for our ultimate good (1 Pet. 5:6-7). But we must have the faith and patience that waits and holds on, allowing the grace of God to sustain us (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Through the gloom and despair, we must stay focused on the promise that the Lord “will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).  

If we would, by faith, look ahead, we would praise God for many things about which we now lament and complain! And, by faith we can appropriate the promise of God, “knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:3-5).

We are told that the difference in the musical tone of a violin depends very much upon the quality of the wood from which it is made. The most skilled violin maker in the world cannot make a great instrument from inferior wood. There was a famous violinist who made his own instruments from a special kind of wood. He shunned the forest and went to the mountains to select the special wood for his instruments. There at the top of a cliff, which was exposed to powerful winds and storms, he harvested his wood. He realized that the severe weather conditions there toughened the wood and produced a quality of grain and resiliency that could not be obtained in any other way. He used only the wood from the side of the tree that faced the wind. The lesson is surly obvious to us.

By the storms of adversity, our wise and loving Father above, prepares and develops in us the beautiful “music of heaven,” namely, a beautiful harmonious character (cf. Pss. 98:1; 29:2). But the materials of faith and love for the Lord must be there to accomplish this (Rom. 5:1-5).