“I don’t like being needy,” I complained as my husband and I drove home from the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta.

We had a great time at the show, but physical limitations threatened to defeat me. Long hikes between appointments coupled with the commotion and stimulus of crowds had taken their toll.

I cried out to God for strength and persevered because this was a one-time opportunity. However, with each step, I wondered how I would go on.

Miraculously—or so it seemed to me—for each interview, my energy surged, pains were forgotten, and I experienced the strength of the Lord.

After a few great days, I was grateful to leave behind the hustle, bustle, and demands of the show.

And yet, I was still being reminded how needy I am, and I didn’t like it.

Then, after a night’s rest in my own bed, the Lord gave me a new perspective.

I am always needy.

Always weak.

Always dependent on God.

Always have been and always will be. It’s just that some days I’m more aware of it.

We were created to be weak and needy. That’s the way God wants us.

When Paul struggled with a need, Jesus told Him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)

We all have struggles—times when we are needy. During those times—and always—we need to be aware that Christ is empowered within us when we are weak.

With that awareness, we can respond like Paul, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

When we walk in our strength, others see us, not Christ in us.

On the other hand, as the Lord’s strength flow through us, we walk in His grace. And He is glorified through us. (Amazing concept, isn’t it?)

As for me, I want others to be drawn to Jesus through my life, not to me. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing the same is true for you.

When I don’t like being weak and needy, it’s because I’m thinking of myself and my comforts. I’m trying to tackle life in our own strength. Consequently, I reject the Lord.

If I want to the Lord to be glorified through me, I must be needy—needy enough to call on Him and surrender to Him so He can work in me.

God can be glorified through me. However, for that to happen, instead of fighting my weakness, I need to embrace Him in it.

Peter sums it up well in 1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in Thee.  (Ps. 33:20-22)