We Are Weak Yet Strong in Jesus 

Last weekend we attended a fall festival with one of our daughters and her three sons at a shopping mall. The event culminated with a costume contest. All three of our grandsons entered the competition. Each one of them looked great, with the older boys decked out as Spiderman and a pirate respectively. However, it was our one-year-old who won a prize. He was awarded third place in his age group as he was dressed up in a Superman outfit. He was dubbed “Superbaby” by the moderator of the contest.

The concept of a superhero being a baby is especially intriguing. We usually picture infants as being rather weak and helpless. So the contrast of an adorable, innocent baby having big muscles and superhuman strength especially gets our attention and can seem cute or humorous - at least the judges seemed to think so.

We find ourselves in a similar situation when we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior. We are mere mortals, yet the Spirit of Almighty God comes to live within us. We who are weak, frail, and susceptible to sin find ourselves possessed with a supernatural power. The Bible proclaims that such believers are “more than conquerors” through Christ (Romans 8:37). We may not be able to fly over tall buildings or deflect bullets, but we can soar to spiritual heights, resist the attacks of the devil, and generally experience victory over sin and temptation.

However, we have to be careful that we don’t fall into one of two traps in relation to this truth. First of all, let’s not focus so much on our frailties that we lose sight of the power we have been given to be conquerors. We are weak and helpless, as far as being able to overcome sin and to deliver ourselves from its bondage. We all have sinned. We are finite, limited human beings. We are no match in our own strength against the evil forces in this world or against the sin nature within us that pulls us away from God and toward wrongdoing. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that we have to go through our time on this earth living in spiritual defeat. Not only do we have the ultimate victory of heaven to look forward to, but because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we can overcome evil in our lives right now. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). Jesus has won the victory and freed us from sin’s bondage. We have the Spirit of God to strengthen us and to help us not to continue to live in sin.

The other pitfall we have to guard against is attributing such strength and success to ourselves rather than to the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Let’s not get cocky about our spiritual superpower. Yes, we are more than conquerors…but only through Christ. It is not because of who we are. It is because His Spirit is within us and empowering us. He gets all the glory for it, not us. Let’s be careful that we don’t get to thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. We are conquerors, but only as we stay connected to the Lord and dependent on Him. Without Him we could do nothing.

So let’s try to maintain a balanced view of this great divine power that has been bestowed on us as followers of Jesus. In many ways we are like babies – frail, dependent, and helpless. However, we are also indwelt by the mighty Spirit of God. He can help us overcome our weaknesses and to live victoriously in this life, but it is all because of Him. We may be weak, but in Him we are strong.