Wednesday October 7, 2026
STRONG IN THE BROKEN PLACES
Devotional
Nobody likes feeling weak... We don't mind talking about our victories, but weakness is different. We celebrate what we accomplish, but we often hide what we struggle with. We know how to post the good news, but we don't always know how to talk about the hard days.
We have learned how to say, "I'm good," even when we're not. We smile when we're hurting.
We keep working when we're exhausted. We keep serving when we're running on empty.
We encourage everybody else while secretly wondering who is going to encourage us.
We have become experts at managing weakness. But what if weakness wasn't something you were supposed to hide? What if weakness wasn't simply something to overcome?
What if weakness was actually an invitation?
An invitation to stop pretending.
An invitation to surrender.
An invitation to discover a strength that doesn't originate with you.
Paul understood this better than most.
Paul was a powerful apostle. He preached the Gospel. He planted churches. He endured persecution. He experienced incredible spiritual moments. God used him mightily.
But Paul also had a weakness.
He described it as a "thorn in the flesh." We don't know exactly what the thorn was. Scripture doesn't tell us, and perhaps that's intentional. Because Paul's thorn can represent the things we all encounter—pain, limitation, disappointment, weakness, struggle, frustration, or circumstances we desperately wish God would change.
Paul prayed about it. Not once. He says he pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave him. And God's answer was not what Paul expected. God didn't say, "Let Me remove it."
God said:
"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." — 2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
Think about that. Paul asked God to change his circumstance. God responded by promising His grace. Paul asked for the thorn to be removed. God reminded him that His grace was sufficient. Paul wanted less weakness. God offered more of His presence.
Sometimes we pray for God to take away the very thing He intends to use to teach us dependence upon Him.
That doesn't mean God causes every painful thing in our lives.
It doesn't mean we should stop praying for healing, deliverance, change, or breakthrough.
We should pray... We should ask... We should believe...
But sometimes God's answer is not "I will remove it."
Sometimes His answer is: "I will sustain you through it."
And there is a difference.
There are moments when God changes the situation.
And there are moments when God changes us in the situation.
Sometimes the miracle is that the mountain moves.
Sometimes the miracle is that you discover strength to climb it.
Sometimes God opens the door.
Sometimes God gives you grace to wait outside it.
Sometimes God removes the burden.
Sometimes He gives you strength to carry it.
And sometimes, while you're asking God to change what is around you, God is doing something deeper within you.
Paul discovered something that every believer eventually has to learn:
God's power is not limited by your weakness.
In fact, Paul says God's power is made perfect in weakness.
That means the place where you feel least capable may become the place where God's strength becomes most visible.
Think about it.- When you're strong in your own ability, you can easily take the credit.
When you accomplish everything through your own talent, you may begin to believe you don't need God.
But when you reach the place where you say, "Lord, I can't do this without You,"
you have arrived at a place where God's power can be clearly seen.
Your weakness becomes an opportunity for dependence.
Your limitation becomes an opportunity for God's strength.
Your exhaustion becomes an invitation to rest in His grace.
Your uncertainty becomes an opportunity to trust His wisdom.
Your brokenness becomes a place where God can display His faithfulness.
This is why you don't have to pretend that you have it all together.
God already knows.
He knows the places where you're tired.
He knows the places where you're afraid.
He knows the places where you're struggling.
He knows the questions you're afraid to ask.
He knows the wounds you're trying to cover.
He knows the disappointment you're carrying.
He knows the prayer you've prayed so many times that you don't even know what else to say.
And He still loves you.
Your weakness doesn't scare God away.
Your brokenness doesn't make Him abandon you.
Your struggle doesn't disqualify you.
Your limitations don't cancel your purpose.
Sometimes we think God can only use us when we are strong.
But Scripture repeatedly shows us otherwise.
God used Moses even though Moses felt inadequate.
God used Gideon even though Gideon felt insignificant.
God used David even though David had weaknesses.
God used Peter even after Peter failed.
God used Paul even while Paul carried a thorn.
God has always demonstrated His strength through people who knew they needed Him.
So stop disqualifying yourself because of the places where you're weak.
You may be looking at your weakness and saying,
"God can't use me because I'm struggling here."
God may be saying,
"This is exactly where I want you to learn to depend on Me."
There is a difference between weakness and worthlessness.
You can be weak and still be valuable.
You can be tired and still be called.
You can be hurting and still be useful.
You can be imperfect and still be chosen.
You can have limitations and still have purpose.
You can be broken in some places and still be a vessel God uses to bless somebody.
Your weakness does not determine your worth.
Your weakness simply reminds you where your strength comes from.
And that's why Paul eventually says:
"Therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." — 2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
Paul wasn't celebrating pain for pain's sake.
He was celebrating what Christ could accomplish through his weakness.
He discovered that there was a kind of strength available to him that could not come from himself.
Christ's power.
That's the power we need. Because there are some days when your own strength will run out. There are some battles you cannot fight in your own ability. There are some burdens you cannot carry alone. There are some situations where intelligence isn't enough.
Experience isn't enough. Money isn't enough. Connections aren't enough.
Willpower isn't enough. But God's grace is enough. His grace is sufficient.
That word "sufficient" means His grace is enough.
Enough for the difficult day.
Enough for the unexpected diagnosis.
Enough for the family challenge.
Enough for the financial pressure.
Enough for the ministry burden.
Enough for the unanswered question.
Enough for the disappointment.
Enough for the grief.
Enough for the waiting.
Enough for the weakness.
His grace is enough.
Maybe you woke up today feeling like you don't have much left.
Then this word is for you:
You don't have to have enough. God is enough.
You don't have to manufacture strength you don't possess.
You don't have to pretend you're okay.
You don't have to perform for God.
You can come to Him exactly as you are.
Tired. Confused. Broken. Overwhelmed. Afraid. Uncertain.
And say, "Lord, this is where I am. Meet me here."
And He will.
Because your weakness is not a dead end- It is a doorway.
A doorway into deeper dependence.
A doorway into deeper prayer.
A doorway into deeper trust.
A doorway into deeper intimacy with God.
A doorway into experiencing a strength that is greater than your own.
So today, don't spend all your energy hiding your weakness.
Give it to God.
Don't spend all your energy trying to prove that you're strong.
Let God be strong through you.
Don't spend all your energy fixing yourself.
Allow God to meet you in the broken places.
The world may tell you that weakness is something to be ashamed of.
But Scripture teaches us that surrendered weakness can become a stage upon which God's power is displayed.
You may be weak, but you are not without strength.
Because when your strength ends,
His strength begins.
When your ability reaches its limit,
His grace reaches beyond it.
When you have nothing left,
He remains.
So bring Him your weakness today.
Bring Him the part of you that you don't understand.
Bring Him the burden you cannot carry.
Bring Him the place that still hurts.
Bring Him the struggle you've been trying to hide.
And let Him remind you:
"My grace is sufficient for you."
5G CONNECTION — GRACE
Today's devotional connects directly to GRACE. Before we can truly Gather, Glow, Grow, and Go, we must understand that everything begins with God's grace. Grace meets us in our weakness and reminds us that God's love is not based on our perfection or performance. Grace says, "You don't have to have it all together for God to love you." Gather reminds us that we don't have to struggle alone; we need the community of believers. Glow means allowing God's light to shine even through the cracks in our lives. Grow means allowing God to use our weaknesses to develop greater faith, patience, humility, and dependence. And Go means carrying the testimony of God's sustaining grace into the lives of others. Your broken places do not have to disqualify your witness. Sometimes they become the very places through which somebody else sees how powerful God's grace really is.
Bible Verse
"But he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." — 2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
Reflection Questions
What weakness, limitation, or broken place in your life have you been trying to hide or fix on your own?
What would it look like for you to surrender that weakness completely to God?
Have you ever experienced a time when God did not remove a difficult situation but gave you the strength to endure it? What did you learn?
How could God use one of your struggles to encourage someone else who is going through a similar situation?
Today's Declaration
I do not have to pretend that I am strong when I am weak. God's grace is sufficient for me. My weakness does not disqualify me; it creates room for God's power to work through me. I will surrender my broken places to God and trust His strength when mine runs out. I am not abandoned in my weakness. Christ's power rests upon me.
Quote
"We need God's power for our weakness."
Prayer
God,
Today I bring You the parts of me that I usually try to hide.
I bring You my weakness.
I bring You my exhaustion.
I bring You my fears.
I bring You my disappointments.
I bring You my questions.
I bring You the places where I feel broken, inadequate, overwhelmed, and uncertain.
I confess that there have been times when I have tried to handle everything in my own strength. I have tried to fix things I cannot fix. I have tried to carry burdens You never asked me to carry alone. I have tried to appear strong when, underneath the surface, I was struggling.
Forgive me.
Teach me that weakness is not something I have to be ashamed of when I surrender it to You.
Like Paul, help me understand that Your grace is sufficient.
When You don't remove the thorn, give me grace to endure it.
When You don't immediately change the situation, give me faith to trust You in it.
When I don't understand what You are doing, give me confidence that You are still working.
When I feel like I have nothing left, remind me that You are enough.
Lord, let Your power rest upon me.
Be strong where I am weak.
Be wise where I am uncertain.
Be my peace where I am troubled.
Be my strength where I am exhausted.
Be my hope where I am discouraged.
And help me remember that my weakness does not cancel my calling.
Use my broken places for Your glory.
Let my life Glow with the evidence of Your grace, even in the places that are still healing.
Help me Grow through what I cannot change.
Help me Gather with people who will strengthen my faith.
And when You call me to Go, let me go knowing that I don't have to be perfect to be useful.
I simply have to be surrendered.
Today I stop pretending.
I stop hiding.
I stop trying to manufacture strength.
I surrender my weakness to You.
And I declare:
Your grace is sufficient for me.Your strength is enough for me.Your power can work through me.
When my strength ends, let Your strength begin.
When I am weak, remind me that I am still held by You.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Comments