Strength in weakness.
Finding strength in what should hurt you.
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. 2 Corinthians 12:9–10.
I have said it before and I will say it again: events just happen, and we are the ones who attribute value to them. Good or bad, who can say? and my favorite quote lately.
“Choose not to be harmed, and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed, and you haven’t been.” Marcus Aurelius.
In 2 Corinthians, it is laid out that the author Paul has been sent an affliction from satan, but what was intended for harm has been turned into strength, for Paul is humbled by the affliction and turns to God for comfort. Hence, he comes to the conclusion that he is better off with the affliction since it keeps him from pride and arrogance and has deepened his connection with God.
Likewise, we may also find strength in what we deem to be our weaknesses. every time we experience discomfort, pain, loss, grief, inconvenience, etc. It is an opportunity to exhibit integrity or lack thereof.
We should not run from our weakness; we should expose it for what it is and push into it until we are made stronger/healed. When there is a cavity, we bore it out; when there is a deep wound, we cauterize; if you let weeks go unattended, it will fester and rot.
Kintsugi (Japanese: 金継ぎ, romanized: “golden joinery”), also known as kintsukuroi (金繕い, “golden repair”), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with urushi lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The method is similar to the maki-e technique.
Kintsugi uses the opportunity to take something broken and make it more beautiful and valuable than before. Just like Paul can boast about his weakness, but only because of God, which is the golden lacquer that has bound his broken pieces into perfect unity. So Paul does not boast about his cracks; he boasts about God, who has made his flaws whole.
At its core, humans are storytellers and your life reflects the stories we tell ourselves about the world around us. If you would like to change the outcome of the events surrounding you, change the story or change the background to alter the context.
If what is in focus seems dark, then surround it with what is darker, and what is focused will appear bright in contrast. If you want to be strong, expose your weakness; if you want to be weak, hide your weakness while boasting about your accomplishments.
This is true in everything; to build muscles, we must tear them down to grow stronger. Lungs must be expanded to inhale more. if you want a strong heart, make it pound. If you want to live a long life, pursue what you dread.
Read more here.
Originally published at https://korublog.substack.com.
