Dear Friend,

My Starbucks name was Lisa.  Why?  Because I got tired of hearing the myriad of imaginative ways people could mess up my name.  The idea to use a fake food name actually started when I was a freshman in college.  My meal plan allowed me to get meals at the Whataburger, and who can pass up a big, juicy Whataburger with mustard several times a week? Not me. When my order was ready to pick up, I would walk over to the big heated bin where my fellow students’ food sacks were thrown and search for my burger.   But the search became more difficult as the versions of “Bonnie” altered.   Donnie?  Bonny?  Connie?  Bony?  Seriously?!  Ugh!  How many ways can you mess up my name?  Well at that little burger shop, they figured them all out; I was sure of that.

So I decided to give them the name “Lisa” instead of “Bonnie.” How can you mess that up?  Oh . . . well, they did.  One day, when I picked up my burger sack, I looked at the top and in messy handwriting was scribbled  “Liza.”  Oh my gosh.  I just had to laugh!

A few months ago, as I gave my “food name” to the Starbucks barista, I stopped to think about what this “Lisa” could be like.  Lisa would be perfect and she would never yell at her daughter.  Her house would always be clean and everything would be in order.  She would always know what to do and would never hesitate on making decisions.  She would finish her projects and organize her days just like a good Proverbs 31 woman would do.  Well, before you know it, poor Bonnie had been mentally beat up by a faultfinding and critical self.

But God sometimes allows our weaknesses so that his glory can be revealed through us.  In 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT), Paul says, “ Each time he (the Lord) said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”   In verse 10, Paul says that he takes pleasure in his weaknesses.  Other versions say that he was well content with his weaknesses and delighted in them.  Delighted!

What would you think if you saw a bumper sticker that said, “Have you hugged your weaknesses today?”  A shrewd little laugh might emerge, but how many days and moments do we spend disliking certain aspects of ourselves, and how many failed attempts have we made to change ourselves or how we live?

From Paul’s words we know that God’s power can be poured into these very spots of weakness to do some pretty amazing miracles.  This is where God’s grace comes in.  The Bible is chalked full of stories where God takes someone’s frailty and does amazing work through them.   I think he chooses certain people because of their weakness and then says, “Now, watch what I can do through you.  My hand of power works best in your weakness.  Watch this!”

We will always have areas of weakness, but we can learn to lean and depend on a Daddy who really loves us!  Remember, you are complete in Him and not on your own.  His grace is big enough for you!  You can love yourself the way God loves you AND be comfortable with yourself.  Wouldn’t that be a big relief?

God loves us right where we are, in the midst of our complexities.  A dear friend of mine once said, “God has no problem loving you exactly the way you are right now.”  That was new for me.  I had always believed that I was supposed to make myself better and better.  Me.  I was going to do it.  What I now know is that GOD will lovingly mold me to look more and more like His Son, Jesus—not me working on myself.

But sometimes in our stubbornness we fight Him and insist on doing things our way.  Like a toddler, we fight and scream, “No!  I want to do it my way!”  But sometimes, by looking inward for self-salvation, we wind up in a bigger and much deeper mess.  Yet our Shepherd Jesus remains near, yearning for us to look at him.  “Just look at me little sheep, and I will be all you need.  I will strengthen you where you are weak, and through me, you will be strong.”

Since God loves you the way you are, you can stop being frustrated at your current state and choose to love yourself.  (Rom 5:8 NIV)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  It is a choice—one that God has already made . . . now it’s your turn.

Prayer:  Father, I surrender my weaknesses over to you.  I want you to make something beautiful out of them—through your grace!  So I give you my weaknesses and ask for your glory and power to be manifest in my life.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen