7 Influential Verses For When We Are Weak

Becoming weak or vulnerable is something we can experience daily and some days it may even feel like hourly. When we realize we were not created to take on life’s difficulties alone, we will then recognize the power of each weakness. For when we are weak, then we are strong.

What I find so fascinating and in a way, so beautiful about being weak is how we allow ourselves to remove our walls. Our walls are what contain what we do not want others to see; our flaws, sins, failures, lies, and personal struggles. Often when we allow this to happen, we find strengths we didn’t realize we had and faith stronger than we knew.

Jesus said to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When we come across an insult or a hardship, we can find ourselves feeling so weak we are almost defeated. But as Paul shared in his letter to the church, we are meant to be weak and take on many difficulties. We will always come across times of weakness, and so it is the way we perceive weakness as our main struggle.

When we recognized and then accepted our frailties, we then exchange our weak moments for God’s grace, through which we gain the strength of our Lord and Savior. So we indeed become strongest at our weakest because of God’s grace.

The following seven verses I have found to be uplifting and influential when I find myself weakened in this unkind world.

7 Influential Verses For When We Are Weak

1. Joshua 1:8-9

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you.” 

Often when we find ourselves in a weak and broken state, it is because we are trying to do too much on our own strength and in our own way.

This scripture shows us that if we meditate on God’s word so that we can learn to do things the way God intends us to, then we will be prosperous and successful.

To make sure we stay in step with the Spirit we need to make sure we are constantly renewing our minds with God’s word. A powerful way to do this is to memorize scripture, it can completely change the way we live and react to moments of weakness. Check out Nick’s article called Why I Started Memorizing Scripture to see more about the life-changing power of having God’s word written on your heart.

2. Isaiah 33:2

“LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.”

Isaiah was an Old Testament Prophet, which means he was chosen by God to speak on his behalf. What I love about this verse is that Isaiah lived around 700 years before Jesus was even born. And in this verse, the original Hebrew word for salvation is Yĕshuw`ah, which means saving, help, and is also the Hebrew name for Jesus!

So hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth, Isaiah wrote this. I love coming across verses such as this one because it just strengthens my faith that much more and it may allow others who aren’t followers of Jesus to see that God has had a plan for our weaknesses and sins from the very beginning!

So when we feel weak call out to Jesus, this is exactly why Jesus came to us in the first place. He is our savior and will be our strength when we are weak and this is all done through God’s grace.

3. Philippians 4:12-13

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

We will become weak whether we seem to be at our highest or lowest points in our lives so our focus needs to stay consistent; that focus needs to be on Jesus. We know that no high ranked job or enormous house will bring us true happiness and these worldly accomplishments sure won’t shield us from future weaknesses.

So we need to put our trust and worries into the hands of the one who will provide the strength when we are weak and that is Jesus Christ!

4. 2 Timothy 1:7

 ^“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

Through Christ, each one of us has received the gift of the Holy Spirit. This amazing gift God has given us is a  guide that we should be filling up on daily. When we fill up on God’s spirit we allow our weaknesses to subside and make room for the power of His spirit. The same power as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms!

If you would like to invite the Holy Spirit into your presence today through worship check out one of our newest articles, 7 Amazing Worship Songs Inviting The Holy Spirit.

5. Psalm 73:26

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

For those who are in Christ and for those who are not, we all put our hope into people, jobs, ourselves and things that will eventually fail us. We should place our trust and hope is in Jesus alone because He will never fail!

This can be difficult to do but we will soon learn that we will be let down time and time again without our hope being set in the right place. And through this hope, we will find great strength from now until eternity!

6. Romans 3: 23-24

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

It is not just you who falls short, we all do. We need to recognize our mistakes and always keep in mind that God has given us grace through His son Jesus Christ. Yet it doesn’t mean we just continue our bad habits because He has forgiven us. It means we should show our love and gratefulness for God by correcting them.  

When we feel like we have failed God we need to remember that He has allowed us redemption. That promise of redemption has been fulfilled through the suffering on the cross and we now are able to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit and have an everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ!

7. Psalm 120:1

“I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.”

I wanted to end on Psalm120:1 because so often when we feel weak we also feel alone. Anytime I am in need of help and guidance, I take time to pray. Your prayers may not be immediately answered but they are immediately heard! Put all your trust in the Lord and you will see mountains move!

You don’t have to be in church to pray or in the midst of reading your bible, just simply walk into a quiet area and close your eyes. I would often pray at my desk at work, walk away and go into the break room for a moment or even just close my eyes sitting in the hospital lobby ( which wasn’t always quiet) but I wanted that few moments to pray to God right there and then to help me because I was overwhelmed and felt weak. And those prayers were always heard, they may not have been answered 10 minutes from the moment I opened my eyes, but as time progressed, I saw them answered.

So try this week to look at each obstacle, hardship, or insult that comes your way in a different light; see them in God’s light. If we are able to view our weakness in this manner, then we are able to see God’s strength that much more so we are able to continually combat off moments of weakness for moments of power!

I have taken all of these verses and have created one of a kind, 7×5 inch cards that you can download for free! So if you are having a difficult day at work or have become discouraged at home, place these cards in a drawer you can reach to as a reminder that your strength comes from God! Just click on any of the images below and you can print them right from home!