I have just learned, for the hundredth time, a lesson that is so simple yet so easy to forget.

When we are weak God is strong.


I walked into praise team practice flustered and annoyed. I hadn't been able to go over the song chords to check that they were written correctly, I hadn't been able to make copies of the songs and I had just learned that an hour of practice time had been stolen from me by the drum club. After banging out the chords on the piano and making copies I was fifteen minutes behind schedule. My annoyance level was rising.

The first song we tackled should have been old hat but the guitarist couldn't remember the strumming pattern. On the second song the drummer wanted to create a great intro but after ten wasted minutes we gave it up. The third song should have been easy but the pianist never came in at the right time. The fourth song nobody knew so I canned it and dug up an old song from three weeks ago, only no one else had the music.

The hour was suddenly gone. We were far from prepared and everyone felt it. I didn't know if I should panic or give up. I arranged to have everyone meet the next morning before chapel to run through it again but in the morning only the instrumentalists showed up. I was so frustrated with my team. I wanted to do a good job but no one else seemed to care that day. When chapel started I stopped worrying and resigned myself to the fate of embarrassment.

Only it never came. We didn't perform stunningly, the guitar came in at the wrong time and the piano was hesitant, but we did lead worship and we did bless people’s lives. The audience responded well and they seemed unconcerned by our small mistakes, they were too busy praising God.

After we finished performing I sat down and smiled to myself thanking God for the lesson. I had felt God using our weakness for his glory and it reminded me that all I can ever do is give my life and its circumstances to God and trust him. He can take the largest weakness in me and use it for his glory. Then when all is done, whether my life is full of great successes or worldly failure, the only thing I will be able to say is Praise God.