I know, we may say that Christ is kindest in his love when
we are at our weakest; and that, if Christ had not been in the fore, in our sad days,
the waters had gone over our soul. - Samuel Rutherford
The quote is from the little book I often
refer to, The Loveliness of Christ, a collection of excerpts from the letters of the Scottish pastor Samuel Rutherford.
These short quotes have been a great blessing to me. (Maybe you’ll want to
order a copy for yourself? Click here.)
Do you believe he’s right—that “Christ is kindest when we
are weakest?” And what would that mean if it’s true? If you belong to Him, I
think it means…
- When you are most vulnerable to temptation, likely to stumble, rather than watching for you to fail and preparing to be disgusted, Christ looks upon you with compassion and love.
- When you’re carrying burdens that have already bowed your back and nearly brought you to your knees, our kind Lord is not annoyed that you’ve tried to lift something that too heavy for you, but instead is all the more ready to carry the burden for you.
- When you’re depressed and sad, His posture is not impatience but tenderness.
- When you’re overwhelmed with circumstances where disaster seems inevitable, He will lead you through.
- When someone you love is struggling and you are powerless to help them, Christ is listening to your prayers and is still mighty to save.
- When you’ve done your best but it seems no good has come of it, Jesus still uses your feeble efforts in ways you’d never expect, with impact that only He could produce.
- When you’re too weak to cling to Him, He’ll never lose His grip on you.
Rutherford is right. Jesus really is
kindest when we are weakest. Actually
the Apostle Paul heard Christ promise this very thing when he was feeling
particularly overwhelmed and broken. Paul begged Christ to take away a “thorn
in the flesh” but instead, Jesus told him: My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9a).
Which led Paul to declare, with
joy, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content
with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I
am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10).
I never get tired of saying this:
we have a wonderful Savior.
