Weakness and Failure

I've been feeling pretty much like a failure of recent. I feel as though I've let a lot of people down because I'm trying to meet too many expectations. I feel as though I've not been sufficiently diligent with seeking God and studying scripture. I feel as though I haven't been praying enough.

I feel like a failure.

This morning as I was journaling, I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Perhaps right now I am, in fact, failing. As I am in Christ, relying fully upon Him, He can use my failures to bring victories. I may actually have to fail in order to learn how to fully surrender to Him. As I fall short, it provides the opportunity for Him to move powerfully and produce inexplicable results, far greater than if we had been "succeeding" by our own strength.

Perhaps our weakness is part of why prayer is so powerful. From a secular vantage point, there can be nothing less beneficial than wasting time "talking to the air." Simply to partake in the act of prayer, we must sacrifice our own time and independence in the belief that it will be redeemed by God in a more powerful manner, specifically because of our prayers. Coming before the Lord in prayer also demonstrates a level of submission. When we pray, we confess that we aren't able to do things entirely in our own power. We admit our total and complete weakness, relying on God, and that allows Him to move powerfully.