Strength in Our Weakness
Dericka Canada Cunningham, GBW Founder
October 19, 2026
This Week's Anchor
“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. 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.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)
I love the transition between the seasons, particularly from Summer to Fall. As Halloween approaches each year, I always welcome our final quarter with all the holiday cheer it brings. Nevertheless, alongside the back-to-back monthly holiday joy, this time of year often leaves me feeling deeply exhausted. I imagine this year has been tough for many of us. With our ever-evolving society and the associated sociopolitical stress, in the words of Tamela Mann, truth is, I’m tired, and I know many of you are too. As I wade through my own weariness, God, in true God form, gave me a powerful reminder of the encouragement in 2 Corinthians 12.
Our anchor scripture is, I’m sure, one many of us hold close to our hearts. It proclaims that His grace is sufficient for us and that His power is made perfect in our weakness. It inspires us to delight in our weaknesses, being confident that God’s power will be revealed through our vulnerabilities. It also declares that, in God’s presence, when we are weak, we are made strong through this power.
As a mental health professional in college counseling, this academic semester has been particularly challenging, and as we enter mid-semester, many of my colleagues and I are simply depleted. The intersections of Black woman-wife-mother-therapist-friend-and-family member have weighed heavily, and I felt utterly drained. My weeks often include an overbooked schedule that leaves little room for me to exist, let alone process all that is occurring around me. It’s been one of those semesters where you can’t catch your breath and can barely keep up—running on fumes and moving from one task, session, and demand to the next while trying to hold steady through the chaos. Amid what is a typical busy schedule for me at this time of the academic year, I also had the added load of facilitating a mindfulness workshop for students on our college’s campus, one I had little to no time or space to prepare for and zero mental and emotional energy to lead. As I made it to the first day of the workshop, I felt my anxiety mounting. I’m a girl who likes to plan intentionally and thoroughly as a facilitator, so feeling unprepared didn’t sit well with me. As I felt the dread rush over me, I said a simple prayer to God, one that my mama and other Black aunties, grandmamas, and women in my life often expressed: “Lord, give me strength.”
Five minutes into facilitating the workshop, the sense of dread was quickly washed away by calm and ease. As the workshop flowed effortlessly, I felt God’s presence. The topic had nothing (directly) to do with God, but my purpose in leading it certainly did. What initially felt like a dreadful burden became an amazing and rewarding workshop to facilitate. And it miraculously happened while I was drained, exhausted, overwhelmed, and unprepared. Afterward, as I sat at my desk, I heard the words, “In my weakness, He is strong.” I entered that moment feeling empty and depleted, but I left feeling full and grateful.
This mindful moment was simple. Leading a workshop isn’t the most challenging battle in life right now, but that day it felt like it, and God used my overcoming a basic work demand to speak to me. God showed up when I really needed Him, in a place where I needed to be reminded of His grace, power, and strength. Some of you reading this devotion today might need this same reminder. Whether it’s a perplexing political climate, challenging work demands, a painful journey of emotional healing, relationship conflict, an arduous health process, ongoing grief and loss, isolation, trauma, anxiety, fear, or just the load of carrying it all, I assure you that God sees it. He sees you and is willing to enter the depths of your weakness and help you discover a strength you never knew could exist.
Many of us were raised to believe that our weaknesses repel God. But the opposite is true. Our weaknesses are an invitation for God to show up in our lives and surprise the heck out of us and everyone else! So, as we enter a new week, it is my prayer that we are each affirmed by God’s sufficient grace. Thank you, Lord, for peace, grace, and strength that overcomes all circumstances and surpasses all understanding. Thank you for not leaving us in our most challenging and weakest moments, but for entering our vulnerabilities full of love, filling us with that same love, and much more. May we wade through this final chapter of the year, inviting God’s Power to rest on us and making room for Divine Protection, Purpose, and Provision to anchor and guide us. Amen.
Reflection
What resonates with you about this scripture and/or this devotion?
What weaknesses and vulnerabilities do you need God’s strength for/in?
What intention(s) do you want to set to connect and/or reconnect with being grounded this week?
Related Scriptures to Ground You Through This Week
Tuesday: Isaiah 40: 29-31
Wednesday: Isaiah 43
Thursday: Zephaniah 3:17
Friday: Philippians 4:13
Saturday: Colossians 1:9-13
Sunday: Hebrews 4:14-16
My Through-the-Week Reflection Guide
A Song of Inspiration
Quote of Love & Liberation
“I want to be in spaces where I can just be: be myself, be all I am, be all I can be,
be in my fullness and be in all my strengths, my weaknesses, and my being.”
Malebo Sephodi
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