#22 - God's Strength in My Weakness

0:04 Have you ever had one of those days where a tiny problem feels huge and then other days you breeze through something way harder? Yeah me too. I'm Dr. Cory Potter and this is Mind and Faith Matters. Today we're diving into what it means to have strength as believers especially when we feel weak. If you're feeling drained lately or like you don't have enough to give, this episode is for you. You see, our limits, emotionally and mentally, they shift depending on what we've been carrying with us. That's part of being human. And it's exactly where God's grace shows up and meets us. Have you ever prayed about something again and again and it just won't go away or happen? Like an uninvited guest that keeps hanging around? You're not alone there. In the Bible, Paul faced that too. He described it as a thorn in his flesh, a constant source of pain and limitation.

1:11 And when he asked God to take it away, God's reply was, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Did you notice God didn't remove Paul's challenge? He promised his constant presence to face it. Here's the lesson. When we feel stretched beyond our ability, God's strength is active right where we are weak. Our ability to handle stress, it's not fixed. We battle grief, fatigue, and anxiety.

1:53 These things lower that threshold and make small pressures feel heavy. Paul's thorn shows us that struggle does not define you as a failure. In fact, it is an invitation to rely fully on God's grace. There are times where I believe God uses our situations to show us that we're not strong or we don't have the strength and we need His grace and He shows us these things so we can rely on Him more. Many believers face what mental health experts call catastrophizing. That habit of imagining the worst outcome. And there are many common roots for this. They include things like the pressure to get everything right. Perfectionism, it makes even minor missteps feel like total failure. Using promises in the wrong way. Let me give you an example. In the Bible, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13, people use that as if life will never overwhelm us. And then when life doesn't match with that expectation, the mind reaches for worst -case pictures. A lot of people quote 1 Corinthians 10 13 to say, God won't give you more than you can handle. But that's not exactly

3:23 what it means or what it says. The verse actually says no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. This verse is talking about temptation, not general suffering. God promises we won't face temptation beyond our ability to resist and he will always provide a way out Doesn't mean we're gonna take that way out, but he'll provide it But when we expect life to never feel overwhelming and then it does our mind spirals into this worst -case thinking That's where a catastrophizing creeps in and to continue on with other causes Some people they fear failing of others or failing God which can make their normal limits as human feel like a moral failure. I've also seen where some people just have a lack of skills or tools and even trusted people they can talk to and check in with and that leaves their mind prone to think this worst -case scenario thinking or over worry. Sometimes the brain goes into that mode and one little problem turns into a huge

4:55 storm in your head. And suddenly everything feels like too much. That's normal. People do that. But it's not the whole story. Even when life feels overwhelming, God is still with you. He doesn't expect you to be strong all the time. His grace shows up right where you're feeling weak, confused, or not enough. You don't have to fix everything or figure it all out before he helps. Sometimes just naming what's heavy can bring it to a little lighter place or bring a little light in on it. Either way you say it. If you just say to God or others, this is where I'm at. This is my limit today. It's okay to also say I'm at my limit. This is where honesty helps us to start healing. It opens the door to grace. And when you just take a moment to breathe and pray, God will hear you. Just saying something simple like, your grace is enough, your power is perfect in my weakness. But I also want you to remember, you are not alone. You can talk to someone that you trust. And as I said, just saying the words out loud can help that fear shrink a little bit. So if today feels too much, I want you to hit the pause button.

6:27 Ask yourself, is this truly catastrophic or does it feel that way because I'm tired or stretched or overwhelmed? And remember, God doesn't ask you to be invincible. He's inviting you to rest in Him. I've even done other episodes on finding rest and being still before God that could help you in this case. God's not going anywhere. He's strong when you're not and I want you to hear him again. My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. So on your low energy days, your anxious moments, the times when you feel like You've got nothing left. Those are the places where God's power shines brightest.

7:23 Let the truth steady your heart today. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, we come to you now. We thank you so much that you give us grace and we thank you that your power in our weakness unmatched and Lord you're not limited you're limitless and we thank you that we can come to you with our overwhelmed feelings our stress when we catastrophize all these situations Lord and we can rest in you and you give us space to be built up by your power Lord we thank you for your Holy Spirit that guides us to these truths would help us to not under correct ourselves or over pressurize ourselves. Lord, help us to just get true with you and bring our lives before you honestly and admit our weaknesses when we have them. And Lord, maybe you could show us today areas where we are trying to power through and we're just weak and we need you. Lord, help us to not try to perform to earn your grace. but instead allow us to just dwell with you and rest in you so that we receive your power and your provisions and your guidance in our lives. Lord, we thank

8:55 you for this short devotional time together. I ask that you would bless all these listeners with your power, your strength, and your grace today. In Jesus' name I do pray. Amen. So if you've been listening to the show and got something out of this episode, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with someone else. You can always find me on mindandfaithmatters .com on the web. I put up my companion resource guides there. I have a hat that I'm gonna bend down and grab real quick. I wasn't expecting to do this, but it's sitting right here in my podcast studio.

9:38 I... just dropped a new design of hat not so long ago in the Mind and Faith Matters store. So you can go to mindandfaithmatters .com forward slash store and check those out. Last month we did a drive to earn some money to give to headsupguys .org to battle depression in men and men's mental health to make it better. And so I'm going to be taking the proceeds from July. I've tallied those up. It's a humble little amount, but we can supplement it a little bit and send it their way and just support that ministry. In the meantime, I want you to know that from here on out, you're just supporting my podcast if you buy something from the store. And so that doesn't bother me either. It costs money. I enjoy what I'm doing, but it costs money to keep. the production value as high as I can and keep it going with all the technology that it uses. So I'm not begging, but I am saying if you want to go to mindandfaithmatters .com forward slash store and check it out, I'd greatly appreciate it. For this week I want you to reflect on this. Maybe your greatest weakness is actually a strength when we use God's strength.

11:04 And your greatest strength if we continue to think we don't need God in it, could be one of your greatest weaknesses. Not trying to be fancy, just trying to make you think. So until next time, remember that your mind does matter, our weakness matters, and our faith matters. God bless. Have a good week.