Epiphany , meaning 'appearance' or 'manifestation', is the day many Christians use to celebrate the "shining forth" or revelation of God in human form, in the person of Jesus. Some Christians commemorate the visitation of the Magi to the child Jesus on this day. As this is Epiphany Sunday, I wanted to talk a little about a wonderful revelation we find in the Christ child. There comes a time in life when we realize that we aren’t always strong, or smart or we don’t always win the game. In fact, we often feel weak, and bumbling, and look at only our failures. And so when it comes to living our lives, we go through these periods where we don’t feel too great about ourselves; where we don’t think we have that much to offer.
But in Christ, we can understand a great truth… God can actually use us all the more when we are weak. The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:10- “For Christ’s sake, … when I am weak, then I am strong.”
There were many who thought Jesus to be weak and foolish. There were (and still are) many who don't understand Jesus' birth and death, and think Him weak (that God would even consider taking on flesh, and allowing humans to kill him). But the apostle Paul tells us something wonderful in 1 Corinthians 1:25, "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength." And also in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” As the magi traveled a long journey to receive the truth of the Christ child, understand this: whenever you feel weak, or humbled, or like a failure, know that in Jesus, your weakness can be used for something great when you partner with God. So don't fret, "if God is for you, who can be against you."
