We are weak, but He is strong.

BIBILE TEXT: 2 Corinthians 4:1–18

You may be feeling frustrated at this point in our evangelism review. We have a wonderful responsibility: to share God's love in Christ with those around us. We are, however, mindful of our own frailty. None of us are as charming, prayerful, courageous, or obedient as we know we should be. People are drowning in their sins all around us, and we feel like we can't get enough life rafts out fast enough. Alternatively, we might be tossing out life rafts and our friends and neighbors seem to be completely unconcerned.

The passage for today provides us with both rest and motivation. God is not surprised by our flaws. He has purposefully and lovingly put His gospel treasure "in clay pots" (v. 7). In reality, God often employs frail people throughout the Bible. Moses, who struggled to speak, was chosen to be His prophetic mouthpiece (Ex. 6:10–12). He chose women as the primary witnesses to His resurrection (see Luke 24:1–11), despite the fact that their testimony was suspect in the first century. With his chronic physical affliction, He made Paul His world-traveling missionary (see 2 Corinthians 12:7–10). And he turned each of us, with our flaws and challenges, into world evangelists.

What is the reason for this? He does this so that we don't have to rely on ourselves or put our attention on ourselves. He does this so that the world can know that the gospel's influence comes solely from Him.