weakness

"but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" - 1 corinthians 1:27-29

when i was a small child, we used to sing this song "Jesus loves me" it's a simple and familiar tune to many. i even learned to play it on accordion. in the lyrics it says "i am weak but He is strong", and as a kid i remembered this bugged me a little. i mean, i know i was a kid, but even then i didn't want to admit that i was weak. i wanted to be strong!
and yet this is the very thing that we must become as followers of Christ. it is a paradigm, but in our weakness, we become strong.
"but he (God) 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" - 2 corinthians 12:9
God's perfection made complete in my weakness. not to elevate me in the eyes of man or bring glory to my abilities, but to show off the power of God, that He should receive glory. for as it is also written,
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” - james 4:6
so in the same way, as the apostle paul said "that is why, for Christ’s sake, i delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. for when i am weak, then i am strong" - 2 corinthians 12:10
i delight in weaknesses? insults, hardships and persecutions? really? is this what the church likes? do we really welcome these things when they come? hmm. it seems like we're still on the road on this. still holding on to our rights instead of letting go of them for the sake of Christ. weakness. be strong in and through me Lord Jesus. allow me to be a fool for you, used for your glory. allow me to be weak so that your strength is shown in and through me.