Saul was having a bad day. David had come back again from battle, and the crowds were hailing him as ten times more successful than him. A secure spiritual father would have rejoiced in the success of his son. But Saul never made it that far. He was an insecure man who could not stand to have someone else looking better than him. His insecurity led him to try to kill David several times. It led to him being dominated by an evil spirit. And eventually, it led to him ending his life consulting a medium.
All of us battle insecurity. I have never met anyone who hasn’t. It’s a particular problem for men, who are often more prone to measuring personal value by outward success and less willing to walk in vulnerable relationship than women are. We paper over our weaknesses in the foolish delusion that no one else can see them. We erect walls around us for our protection, which wind up becoming our prisons. In church, we create dysfunctional one-man leaderships where no one is strong enough to warn the insecure strongman of his coming fall.
One of the most powerful summaries of the Christian life is found in Paul’s statement, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). He then applies it to himself, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
David followed that path all his life. His confessions of sin are written in the Scriptures for all to see. And so God used him, failures and all. He never forgot that without the anointing of the Spirit he had first experienced as a boy, he was nothing. Decades later, he was found crying out, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11). Saul never got over God using someone else more than him. Instead of driving him back to God, it drove him away.
Can I encourage you today, men and women alike, to take a couple of practical steps? First, take an insecurity inventory. What are the areas of failure or apparent failure in your life? What are the areas where the success of others either upsets you or depresses you? Second, redefine those failures as opportunities for greater dependence on God. And third, find a friend or two to walk in honest and vulnerable relationship with.
I have found that my influence in the lives of others has grown in direct proportion to my ability to acknowledge my weaknesses. It’s counterintuitive, but it’s true. And the reason is given in the Scripture I quoted: his power is made perfect in my weakness.
God wants to take your weakness and turn it into strength. His strength, not yours. He can only truly use those who know they are nothing.
That’s certainly me, and I hate to say it, it’s you too.
Believe it or not, that’s good news! It will set you free.
CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH DAVID & ELAINE CAMPBELL IN HELPING TO SUSTAIN THEIR ACTIVE MINISTRY.
AWAKENING MINISTRIES // FOUNDATION of FAITH Project
Foundation of Faith Project is strengthening generations in faith and bringing beautiful changes to the communities around them. Through teaching, mentoring and coaching, many are finding out who they are and who they are destined to be. They are bringing more to their world. David Campbell is the key leader in this initiative and you can support him financially directly through Awakening Ministries.
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