The night I wrote this I was totally overwhelmed and at my wit's end. It was September of my sophomore year of college. I was about to go to sleep. My face, admittedly, tear-stained after a good cry and some encouragement from some dear friends.
My head was already on my pillow. The lights were out. But, I felt restless.
I felt a strong urge to write. So I pulled out my phone, and my fingers just started flying.
These words didn't feel like mine. They just kept coming.
It was a total God moment.
This is the first thing I ever wrote that I truly wished I had a blog to share it on.
Well, I finally do.
Overwhelmed and under qualified.
If I had to describe how I feel on a day-to-day basis in college in any way, it would be these four words. Completely and totally and often, overwhelmingly.
Want to know the absolutely craziest part of it all?
Everyone else feels that way too.
So why is it that society has trained us to always act like this? To act like we have it totally together. To create a perfect highlight reel of our lives on social media. To compile the most perfect resume. To view failure as a the worst possible outcome. To fully embody this completely fake, unauthentic version of ourselves that has it ALL together.
You know what could be SO crazy beautiful? Choosing to fully embody vulnerability instead. Choosing to show others that you sure as hell don't have everything in your life together, and that is a-ok. Because guess what- nobody does.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says,
But He 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
How AMAZING is that? Boasting "all the more gladly" of weakness. What. A. Concept.
What if we all openly shared that we felt overwhelmed and under qualified? And recognized that we are in need of a perfect Savior who can make us strong in our weakness?
How beautifully, wonderfully, and truly marvelous would that be?
So here is my two cents. Why not boast about your weakness? Why not give the glory of your situation to the Lord and trust in Him? Why not use your weakness as your testimony, and as the foundation of your trust that an all-powerful amazing God will be your strength in that weakness?
The next time someone tells you about how something in their life is falling apart, I challenge you to say two simple words: "me too."
Find community in vulnerability. Find courage in vulnerability. Find strength in vulnerability.
Because when we all are just honest with each other and our need for a perfect Savior, that's when the real healing, growth, and strength is found.