Month 4 - Endurance | Week 2: Strength in Weakness

Endurance isn’t forged in ideal conditions. If you’ve been on this mortal plain of existence long enough this won’t be news to you. But if you are fresh of the world, or if you are actively drowning in the mud of relentless challenges, I’ve got some good news my friend.

Endurance isn’t built when the body is strong, the path is clear, or the outcome is guaranteed.

Endurance is formed when strength fails - and we discover that God has not.

This week, Scripture confronts one of the most countercultural truths of the Christian life: God doesn’t remove weakness - He redeems it.

Anchor Scriptures For M4 | W2

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”- 2 Corinthians 12:9

“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.”- Isaiah 40:29

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”- 2 Corinthians 12:10

“God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”- 1 Corinthians 1:27

The Theology of Weakness

The Apostle Paul pleaded three times for relief from weakness.

The thorn was real.The suffering was persistent.The prayer was sincere.

And yet God did not remove it.

Instead, God reframed it.

Paul learned through his suffering that weakness is not an obstacle to power - it is the environment where divine power is displayed most clearly. That is easy to say and write, but not so easy to actualize in your spiritual and physical walk in the world.

The world sees weakness as failure.God sees it as fertile ground.

Rebuke the prosperity nonsense of shame, and pick up the consecrating strength of the Lord demonstrated through suffering, through weakness, in the midst of the valley, it is there, right there, that he prepares a seat at his table for you, right there, feet smouldering from the fire, smoke in your nostrils, battered and bruised, there, in the presence of, in the face, of your enemy, you are fully acknowledged as an heir to the kingdom of creation.

It is there on the ocean floor of your misery and suffering that you find… his footprints, his hand reaching for you, a welcoming seat of paternal and eternal acknowledgment ready for you take.

You experience that Victory, and that victory will carry further than a mountain top, further than any emotional worship experience, of earthly provision; it is that gospel truth of my lack of self-sufficiency that powers me through the time and space I have been given to push through.

The gospel does not promise self-sufficiency.It promises Christ-sufficiency.

Weakness as a Pattern, Not an Exception

This isn’t isolated theology. It is the consistent pattern of Scripture.

Moses stuttered - yet spoke for God before Pharaoh.

Exodus 4:10–12, Exodus 7:1–2

Gideon was fearful - yet delivered Israel with 300 men.

Judges 6:11–16, Judges 7:2–7, Judges 7:19–22

David was overlooked - yet anointed king.

1 Samuel 16:6–13, 1 Samuel 16:7

Jeremiah wept - yet faithfully spoke truth to a rebellious nation.

Jeremiah 1:6–8, Jeremiah 9:1, Jeremiah 20:7–9

Jesus himself overcame all bodily weakness at his crucifixion - and through it conquered sin and death.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10, 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, James 4:6, Psalm 51:17

God doesn’t wait for your strength. But he will work through your surrender.

The Hidden Gift of Weakness

There is a holy relief, in being stripped of your own strength, when you find yourself placed in weakness for his sake. Weakness that strips away the illusions and idols we have built around ourselves.

Weakness removes our defenses:

Self-reliance

Reputation

Control

Pride disguised as competence

And in that stripping, something holy happens.

We learn to lean.We learn to listen.We learn to abide.

Weakness teaches us what strength never could.

Endurance Is Staying Present, Not Staying Powerful

Many believers endure poorly because they believe endurance requires constant emotional or spiritual strength. As if proximity to our Father is measured by experiential highs and euphorias.

Scripture teaches the opposite.

Endurance is remaining faithful when strength fluctuates, and when the “feeling” is gone.It is staying obedient when confidence is low, and the crowd is gone.It is trusting God when prayers feel unanswered, and the worship music stops.

God doesn’t ask you to be strong today, when you can’t. He asks you to stay with Him, regardless.

A Note on Finishing Strong

Within the RiverLife School of Ministry Pastor Byron pointed out something easy to miss:

The Book of Acts ends in confinement, not expansion.

Paul doesn’t finish with public momentum or a visible breakthrough. He finishes under house arrest - preaching, teaching, and welcoming all who came to him.

“With all openness, unhindered.” - Acts 28:31

The strength of Paul’s finish wasn’t found in physical worldly freedom, but in faithfulness. His strength was countercultural; to die was to gain, and his earthly weakness was power in the Kingdom.

This is where endurance and weakness meet.

Scripture gives more attention to Paul’s restrained final years than to all his missionary journeys combined - reminding us that God is just as present in physical limitation as in acceleration.

Pastor Byron contrasted this with King Uzziah, who began strong but finished poorly -not because of weakness, but because pride replaced dependence. Strength became entitlement, and grace was resisted rather than received.

To finish strong, Scripture repeatedly calls us not to power, but to patience, humility, and perseverance (Gal. 6:9; 1 Cor. 15:58; Heb. 6:12).

Endurance, then, as we have repeated this week, is not the absence of weakness.It is remaining surrendered when weakness remains.

As Paul later testified:

“I have finished my course.” - 2 Timothy 4:7

Not someone else’s course.Not an idealized version of success.But the one God entrusted to him - kept by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Watch / Listen / Read

Watch

God’s Best-Kept Secret by Mark Maulding

This is especially relevant this week because it reveals how God’s power is released not through self-effort or visible strength, but through surrendered lives that learn to depend fully on the Holy Spirit in seasons of weakness and endurance.

Here is a free link to some of the book - LINK

Billy Graham - When I Am Weak, He Is Strong | 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 - LINK

Listen

“Bloom” by Austin Sebek

Bloom reminds us that God brings life and growth not through visible strength or ideal conditions, but through quiet faithfulness, where endurance takes root and fruit emerges in unseen ways.

Psalm 50 - Aramaic: Trio Mandili

“Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.”

Man of Suffering” (Isaiah 53)

Isaiah 53 centers our endurance in Christ Himself, the One whose weakness was not failure but obedience, reminding us that God’s redemptive power is most fully revealed through suffering faithfully borne.

“Тело Христово примите” -Receive the Body of Christ

This beautiful rendition anchors us with steady methodical beauty, for endurance not in personal strength, but in humble participation in Christ’s broken body, the quiet, sustaining grace that carries us when weakness remains.

Psalm 121 - Blues

“Psalm 121 Blues” is a powerful, road-worn prayer wrapped in twelve bars, performed by the legendary AI blues artist Arbogast Mills. With a voice that sounds like it’s carried the weight of every storm and still found hope on the other side, Mills turns this ancient psalm into a soul-deep blues testimony.

Read

John Piper - “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” - LINKA sober meditation on suffering, weakness, and God’s sovereignty, deeply aligned with power made perfect in weakness.

A Grief Observed - C.S. Lewis - LINKUnfiltered honesty in suffering; faith spoken through pain rather than polished answers.

The Cross of Christ - John Stott - LINKAnchors weakness, suffering, and victory firmly in the cross - not sentiment, but substance.

📅 This Week’s 30-Min Rally Point

We’ll meet for our 30-minute rally point this Friday at 7:00 PM EST via Zoom.This is a space for reflection, encouragement, and activation, a rhythm of checking in, praying together, and pressing forward.

🕖 Zoom Time: Friday @ 7:00 PM EST🔗 Click to join the Zoom call - Zoom URL

Format:

Welcome & Opening Prayer (2 min)

Scripture Reading (3 min)

Teaching Recap (5 min)

Discussion Questions (12 min)

Heart-Level Questions:

Head-Level Questions:

Hands-Level Questions:

Practice Together (5 min)

Closing Encouragement & Prayer (3 min)

Bring a Bible, a journal, and any wins or wrestles you want to share. This is a safe space to grow.

Sneak Peek - Month 4, Week 3: Run With Endurance

Next week, we move into Week 3 of Endurance: Run With Endurance, where Scripture calls us not to escape difficulty, but to keep going faithfully through it.

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.”- Hebrews 12:1–2

We will explore what sustains believers when the race feels long, the path unseen, and obedience costly - learning why endurance is not powered by intensity or momentum, but by a steady gaze fixed on Christ, who both initiates and perfects our faith.

God is with us!

Father,We confess that we often resist weakness and mistake it for failure.Teach us to trust Your grace where our strength ends.Form endurance in us through humility, patience, and dependence on Your Spirit.Help us remain faithful to the course You have set before us,keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus - not on outcomes, relief, or recognition.Carry us when we are weary,and finish in us the good work You have begun.Amen.

I’m glad you’re here.

Let’s run the race - Eyes Up, Chin Up!

Grace and peace,

Sam Johnston

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