“I give unto men weakness, that they may be humble. And my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me” (LDS Ether 12:27, NC Ether 5:5)
Mankind is handicapped by the weakness that God gives men. The Lord literally gives men weakness. Weakness can be acquired at birth, as well as coming along the way throughout life. Why would the Lord do such a thing, as to hinder man with weakness? What is the greater purpose in mind that having weakness is worth it? Apparently for the purposes of God, a person acquiring humility is worth the cost of having weakness.
Humility is one of the characteristics of which, the promise of the Lord is, “If these things are in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (KJV 2 Peter 1:8, NC 2 Peter 1:2). Acquiring true humility is a sign of having knowledge of Jesus Christ. This isn’t merely some artificial knowledge, or rote learning, or passing a test by recitation. It is an acquired knowledge that comes only by personal experience that becomes a person’s character. When a person acquires real humility, they know more about Jesus than one who lived in the day of Christ and could certainly pick Jesus out of a police line-up but were not truly his disciple.
The Lord gives weakness. Since weakness is His doing, His grace can cover for man having the weakness that the Lord gives him. Grace covers the weakness that the Lord gives man, with an if. The condition is that man must acquire humility for grace to cover for the weakness. If humility is demonstrated and acquired, the weakness is the Lord’s and He can take it away. If humility is not acquired, then the weakness becomes the ownership of the individual. Weakness may have been inherited as an opportunity from God to acquire humility, but it can also become an identity that the person acquires for themselves. A person may grow fond of their weakness and not want the Lord to take it away. They may be very uncomfortable or even feel miserable without it. What begins as a weakness that can produce humility, can instead become an identity. If weakness becomes an acquired character or part of the identity of the person, it is no longer covered by grace because the person has grown to love it and inherit it for himself. The Lord does not intend for the weakness to be permanent. Weakness is intended as a temporal means to acquiring a characteristic of eternal importance, humility. When humility is acquired, the grace of God is sufficient to answer for the weakness.
The verse cited above continues saying, “For if they humble themselves before me and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (LDS Ether 12:27, NC Ether 5:5). Note that the promise is that the Lord will “make weak things become strong unto them”. It does not say that the weakness will be removed or go away within a person’s lifetime. Man may have to live with a particular weakness throughout an entire lifetime.
Paul speaks of his own “thorn in the flesh”. Paul asked the Lord that this weakness be removed saying, “For this thing, I implored the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you” (KJV 2 Cor 12:8-9, NC 2 Cor 1:43). What Paul really wanted, at least initially, is for his particular weakness to be removed. Even though the response of the Lord is not what he wanted to hear, he grew to accept it. It began to satisfy him. Later, with this weakness still in place, Paul could say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (KJV 2 Cor 12:9, NC 2 Cor 1:43). This weakness allowed Paul to acquire humility, not merely as a temporary response to an undesirable situation but as a permanent part of his character.
What do I do with my weakness? Do recognize it at all? Do I get depressed over it? Am I proud of it? Do I allow it to bring me humility?