My daughter’s winter boots have these Velcro straps that don’t stay attached where they are supposed to. It drives me bonkers. At first, I just thought she wasn’t doing them up properly, and I had her pause and do them.
Immediately, they untethered. Thinking that, perhaps, there was something stuck in the Velcro, I proceeded to clean out any lint that tried to hang on, and I did them up. They released only moments later.
So, I asked my daughter if she’d like me to cut them off. They just dangle there. Useless and kind of sloppy looking. She said no. She liked how they swooshed around when she ran.
Sometimes I feel like those boots with the dangly Velcro straps. I feel inadequate and unable. I feel messy and sometimes useless. I feel like I’m not fully doing what I’m supposed to as a parent or simply as a human. And that every time I try to “do up my straps” they pop open. It’s frustrating. If I were completely honest, there are parts of me that I’d probably choose to “cut off” if I could (metaphorically, of course, friends).
But I think God likes the way I swoosh. I think God sees my dangly Velcro straps and knows something that I don’t. I think that where I see my own weakness and mess, he sees purpose and opportunity. And I am reminded of God’s words to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
And it is true. When I am weak, he is strong.
When you are weak, he is strong.
When I’m self-conscious of my dangly Velcro straps, his grace is sufficient for me. His power will work in my weakness, and yours.
And I echo the words that Paul wrote in follow-up to God’s: “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
Watch my dangly Velcro straps swoosh as I run.