“‘But Lord,’ Gideon asked, ‘how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in

Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.'”  (Judges 6:15)

Once when he was to preach at the University of Sydney in Australia, evangelist

and Pastor John Stott lost his voice. He says: “What can you do with a missionary

who has no voice? We had come to the last night of the evangelistic campaign.

The students had booked the big university hall. A group of students gathered

around me, and I asked them to pray as Paul did, that this thorn in the flesh might

be taken from me. But we went on to pray that if it pleased God to keep me in

weakness, I would rejoice in my infirmities in order that the power of Christ might

rest upon me.

As it turned out, I had to get within one inch of the microphone just to croak the

gospel. I was unable to use any inflection of voice to express my personality. It

was just a croak in a monotone, and all the time we were crying to God that his

power would be demonstrated in human weakness.  Well, I can honestly say that

there was a far greater response that night than any other night. I’ve been back to

Australia ten times now, and on every occasion somebody has come up to me and

said, ‘Do you remember that night when you lost your voice? I was converted that

night.'”

The Lord loves us when we are weak, because it is then that He can work through

us. Today in prayer, give thanks to the Lord that when we are weak He is strong.

“God had looked for a man weak enough, and He found me.” – Hudson Taylor

“But he said to me, ‘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.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9)