Grace in the Gaps: How God Uses weaknesses
Welcome back, my faithful Compadres!
Everyone loves to showcase their strengths and areas of success while hiding their weaknesses and flaws. This is evident in the fact that we only show pictures of ourselves that depict success or progress. We barely show images that represent weaknesses or flaws. It may interest us that God sometimes uses our weaknesses to fulfil His divine agenda. Throughout the Bible, there is evidence of God using the flaws of people to perpetuate His divine purpose. Join me as I explore this intriguing biblical truth.
God and the Google Navigator
The purpose of this article is not to endorse weaknesses, nor to authenticate our flaws. Instead, it aims to highlight that God does not fear our mistakes. As a matter of fact, His power is made perfect in our weakness [1]. God’s relationship with us is like a GPS navigator. Whenever we use Google navigation to locate our way, it leads us through a step-by-step process of “turn left” and “turn right” instructions.
While being led by the navigator, when we decide to take a different turn, the navigator simply recalibrates and leads us back to our correct position. Like the Google Navigator, God uses our shortcomings to further His divine purpose, even if we took a wrong turn while being led by Him. This does not imply that we should deliberately go wayward. Remember that although the Navigator recalibrates, it also displays the new ETA (expected time of arrival), which is mostly longer than it used to be.
In this blog, I will present four individuals whose weaknesses God used to further His divine agenda.
1. The Fear of Joseph
In Matthew 2, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea. Herod, the king, was upset and sought to kill the baby boy. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, to take the baby and his mother and escape to Egypt. Joseph escaped with the family and stayed in Egypt for some years.
After a few years, Herold died. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph the second time to tell him that those who sought to eliminate the baby are now dead; hence, they can safely go back home.
Instead of going back to Bethlehem of Judea, he went to Nazareth because he was afraid of the son who inherited Herod. Matthew 2:22-23 read
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
A divine Catalyst
Although the decision to divert to Nazareth was made out of fear, it was underpinned by purpose and the will of God to fulfil a messianic prophecy. If Joseph had not made this decision out of fear, God would still have fulfilled His word; however, God used Joseph’s fear as a catalyst to expedite His word. I imagine Joseph blaming himself for failing his family by moving to Nazareth; little did he know that God actually orchestrated this move to fulfil a divine mandate. Yes, he tasted the sour, cold taste of fear. The kind of fear where cold chills trimmed with a prickly sensation flood his body, adorning itself in a distinct sense of nausea [2]. However, His weakness was used by God to perpetuate His divine agenda.
2. The Arrogance of Rehoboam
When Solomon died, the people of Israel approached his son Rehoboam, desperate for relief. Under Solomon’s rule, Israel experienced wealth and expansion, but it came at a heavy cost—forced labour, high taxes, and exhausting national projects, such as the construction of the temple and palace. The people had carried a heavy burden for decades, and now that a new king was on the throne, they saw an opportunity for change.
Led by Jeroboam, the people pleaded:
“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. Lighten the harsh labor and we will serve you.”
(1 Kings 12:4)
Not a Rebellion, Just a Humble Plea
This wasn’t rebellion; it was a humble request from a weary nation asking for mercy. They wanted a king who would listen, lighten their load, and lead with compassion. Instead, Rehoboam rejected their plea, increased the burden, and responded to them with arrogance. That moment of ignored desperation became the spark that God used to fulfil His plan and divide the kingdom.
What if Rehoboah had heeded the plea of the people? Well, God would have still perpetuated His agenda. However, the arrogance of Rehoboam was a perfect thing God used to bring about His divine agenda.
3. Amaziah’s Pride Leading Him Into a War That God Intended
Amaziah’s pride became the very doorway through which God executed His judgment and fulfilled His purposes for Judah. After winning a significant victory over Edom, Amaziah’s heart grew lifted, and he challenged the king of Israel to battle—a reckless move driven not by strategy but by arrogance. Though the king of Israel warned him to back down, Amaziah refused to listen. Scripture makes the reason clear:
“Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom” (2 Chronicles 25:20).
An Event Guided by God's Hidden Hand
God allowed Amaziah’s pride to harden his heart, turning his overconfidence into the setup for a defeat that would humble Judah and expose the emptiness of self-reliance. What appeared to be a king’s stubborn ambition was actually God’s hidden hand guiding events, revealing that when human pride rises, God can use even that weakness to accomplish His sovereign purpose.
4. Sampson's Sexual Desire: A Tool for Redemption
Samson’s story shows how God can work through human weakness and personal desires to accomplish His purposes. In Judges 14:4, when Samson insisted on marrying a Philistine woman, his parents were perplexed because intermarriage with the Philistines was against God’s law. Yet Scripture reveals:
“But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD, who sought an occasion against the Philistines.” ( Judges 14:4)
Samson’s impulsive desire, which might have seemed foolish or selfish, became the very means God used to provoke conflict with Israel’s oppressors.
Through his personal flaws—impulsiveness, attraction to the wrong woman, and later acts of vengeance—God orchestrated events that weakened the Philistines and advanced His plan for Israel. Samson’s life reminds us that God’s purposes are not hindered by human weakness; rather, He can use it as a stage for His divine strategy.
Conclusion
These stories—Joseph, Rehoboam, Amaziah, and Samson—show that God can use human flaws, pride, impulsiveness, and even difficult circumstances to accomplish His purposes. What may seem like weakness, poor judgment, or a challenge in our lives can become a pathway for God’s plan, reminding us that His sovereignty can turn every situation into an instrument of His divine will.
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References
[1] 2 Corinthians 12:9
[2] Thomas Dexter Jakes, Naked And Not Ashamed, (Shippensburg: Destiny Image Publishers, 1995), 1
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