Faith motivation built on Scripture reveals a surprising truth: God uses weakness to accomplish greater purpose than human strength ever could.
Many believers quietly carry insecurity, failure, anxiety, or personal struggle and assume those things disqualify them from impact. This message challenges that assumption with biblical clarity and emotional depth.
Instead of eliminating weakness, God often transforms it.
This powerful Christian motivational talk explores how limitation becomes the stage for divine strength. When we attempt to hide our broken places, we live in performance. When we surrender them, we live in power.
The message draws from biblical examples and spiritual principles that demonstrate a consistent pattern: God does not choose the flawless. He refines the surrendered.
If you have ever felt overlooked, behind, inadequate, or burdened by your past, this teaching will encourage and strengthen your faith.
You will learn:
How grace sustains ongoing struggle
Why weakness increases spiritual dependence
How surrender builds authentic confidence
Why God’s calling does not wait for perfection
How scars can become testimony
Faith is not about projecting strength. It is about trusting God inside vulnerability.
For more Christian motivational content and Bible-based encouragement, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph
Partner with the ministry here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/douglasvandergraph
#FaithMotivation
#ChristianVideo
#GodUsesWeakness
#BibleInspiration
#SpiritualEncouragement
#ChristianGrowth
#JesusTeaching
#GraceMessage
#FaithJourney
#ChristianCommunity
#PurposeInPain
#DailyFaith
Many believers quietly carry insecurity, failure, anxiety, or personal struggle and assume those things disqualify them from impact. This message challenges that assumption with biblical clarity and emotional depth.
Instead of eliminating weakness, God often transforms it.
This powerful Christian motivational talk explores how limitation becomes the stage for divine strength. When we attempt to hide our broken places, we live in performance. When we surrender them, we live in power.
The message draws from biblical examples and spiritual principles that demonstrate a consistent pattern: God does not choose the flawless. He refines the surrendered.
If you have ever felt overlooked, behind, inadequate, or burdened by your past, this teaching will encourage and strengthen your faith.
You will learn:
How grace sustains ongoing struggle
Why weakness increases spiritual dependence
How surrender builds authentic confidence
Why God’s calling does not wait for perfection
How scars can become testimony
Faith is not about projecting strength. It is about trusting God inside vulnerability.
For more Christian motivational content and Bible-based encouragement, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph
Partner with the ministry here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/douglasvandergraph
#FaithMotivation
#ChristianVideo
#GodUsesWeakness
#BibleInspiration
#SpiritualEncouragement
#ChristianGrowth
#JesusTeaching
#GraceMessage
#FaithJourney
#ChristianCommunity
#PurposeInPain
#DailyFaith
Category
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CreativityTranscript
00:02What if the very weakness you have been trying to hide is the exact place God intends to make
00:10something beautiful happen? Now, pause there for a moment. Let that settle into the places you do
00:18not normally let anyone see, because everyone listening has something. You know, there is that
00:28insecurity you joke about so no one realizes it still stings. There is that
00:34failure you replay at night when the house is quiet. There's that habit that you
00:41find in private. Or maybe that fear you disguise with productivity. You know, there's
00:50a part of your story you edit when people ask where it came from. I do it, my
00:57friends do it, we all do it. You know, you smile in public, you serve, you show up, you
01:07carry responsibility. But inside, there's a quiet whisper that says, if they really
01:15knew this part of me, they would see how unqualified I really am. And so you hide it.
01:23You hide it from people. Sometimes you even try to hide it from God. But what if that hidden
01:33place is not a liability? What if it's holy ground? You know, in 2 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul
01:45speaks about a thorn in the flesh. We are never told exactly what it was. I've researched
01:53it and tried to find reasons or what it was that he was actually referring to there. And I'll tell
02:00you, most
02:01modern scholars think it might have had something to do with his eyesight. But
02:07whatever it was, the silence feels intentional. Because if it were named, some would say, well, mine is
02:17different. Instead, we are left with space to see our own thorn in his words. I love how beautiful
02:27the New Testament of the Holy Bible is, and how it challenges us and puts us into a position of
02:35growth
02:35every single time. It's amazing. And you know, Paul begged God to remove his thorn in the flesh.
02:43Three times he pleaded. And if we're honest, we've done the same. God, take this away. Fix this.
02:53Heal this. Remove this weakness so I can finally step into what you have for me. But the answer Paul
03:03received was not removal. It was revelation. God said, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made
03:14perfect in weakness. Now, not improved by weakness. He didn't say that. And not slightly enhanced by weakness,
03:24but made perfect in it. And I want you to think about that. You know, we spend years trying to
03:34present
03:34strength to a God that is drawn to surrender. Maybe your weakness is anxiety. You walk into rooms and your
03:44heart races. I do that all the time. Maybe not because I have anxiety, but because I limp. And I'm
03:53a handicapped
03:54guy. So when I walk into a room filled with people immediately, whether they are or not, everybody
04:01in the room is staring at me. And they're like, oh my God, look at that handicapped guy. Now I
04:07know most
04:08people probably aren't doing that, but in my head, they are. You know, you compare yourself to everyone
04:14else. You always assume that they are more capable, more confident, more secure. You smile, but inside you
04:24feel small. And you have prayed, God, please make me bold. I prayed lots and I still limp. But what
04:35if
04:35instead God wants to use your sensitivity, or maybe in my case, my limp, to make me more compassionate?
04:44What if your awareness of your own fragility makes you gentle with others who are breaking?
04:53And maybe your weakness is a past failure, maybe a divorce, or a business that didn't work out,
05:01or a moral stumble? You know, maybe it was just the season where you walked away from what you knew
05:08was right. We've all done that at one time or another. But you carry it as a label. You believe
05:17that it defines you. Well, you know what? What if that failure becomes the very reason someone else
05:26believes restoration is possible, that they can overcome it? What if the scar becomes proof that
05:35God rebuilds? I want you to look real quick at Moses. When God called him, he didn't respond with
05:43confidence. And I point this out because it seems like whenever I bring this up, it's not commonly known
05:52that Moses had a speech impediment. He stuttered. And he responded to God with insecurity. He said,
06:02I'm slow of speech. And Moses was focused on what he lacked. Now he's one of the giants of the
06:10Bible
06:11referred to in multiple circumstances. He had insecurity. He wasn't perfect. He wasn't the guy who could just
06:21walk into the room and chat it up. No, instead, he had a stutter. He had a disability. You see,
06:29God doesn't
06:30always choose the best. He chooses the willing. And God did not say, you are right. I need someone stronger.
06:40God said, in essence, I'll be with you. And that's the difference. The calling was not built on Moses'
06:48eloquence. It was built on God's presence. Or look at Gideon hiding in the wine press,
06:57threshing wheat in secret because he was afraid. He did not see himself as a warrior. He saw himself as
07:06the least in his family. Yet God addressed him as a mighty warrior before he ever felt like one.
07:16His weakness did not disqualify him. It set the stage for a victory that could not be explained by
07:25human strength. Or how about Peter? He loved Jesus deeply, but he denied him publicly. Can you imagine
07:35the shame? The sound of the rooster? The eye contact across the courtyard? The crushing realization of
07:43failure? I mean, it would be unbelievable. I can't even imagine that level of stress. And I think many
07:50of us would have disqualified ourselves forever after that moment. But Jesus, Jesus restored him.
07:59And the very man who once trembled before a servant girl would later preach with boldness that
08:07shook cities. Shook cities. Shook cities. Can you believe that? His weakness became the backdrop for
08:15grace. And maybe that's where you are today. I've been there. I'm probably there right now. I just
08:23need to sit down and think it through. But you know what? We all have a highlight reel that we've
08:30run
08:30through in our minds. You know, in the courtyard, in the wine press, in the stutter, in the thorn. And
08:38we
08:38assume that strength is what makes us useful. But you know what? Not true. Strength often tempts us to take
08:47control. Weakness drives us to our knees. And on our knees, something shifts. You see, when you know
09:00you are not enough, you pray differently. When you know you cannot fix yourself, you depend
09:09differently. And when you know you are fragile, you cling differently. Weakness creates intimacy
09:20with God that strength rarely does. You know, I believe there are people listening to this video,
09:30right now, who have carried a private battle for years. Addiction, maybe, that you fight. Or a
09:39mental health struggle you are currently managing, or trying to manage. A physical limitation you never
09:47asked for. Boy, I'll tell you what, I'm right there. I never asked to be a handicap guy, but I'll
09:54tell you one
09:55thing. I'd rather be a handicap guy doing what I'm doing right now than an able-bodied individual lost in
10:04the wilderness. And you know, maybe you have a grief that resurfaces without warning, or you have wondered
10:13if it means you are less spiritual because of your disadvantage. You're less mature, less chosen by God.
10:22But what if, and what if, now listen to this. I hope everybody can see this, because there's so much
10:31truth in this. What if that ongoing struggle is the very place where God's grace is most visible in
10:40your life? Now, do you think if I didn't have a massive stroke, and become a handicap guy, and have
10:46massive brain damage, and be the longest clinically documented death case in America, and walk around
10:53with a limp right now, and be still partially paralyzed on the left side of my body? Do you think
11:00I would be doing this right now? I don't know if I would. I can tell you that based on
11:06the person that I
11:06was, when I was younger, versus who I am now, I probably would not be doing this. I would probably
11:15be doing something different, because I was fairly self-empowered as a young person, and I carried a lot
11:24of that self-empowerment into adulthood. And if you ever watched the first 900 videos on this channel,
11:32I basically teach people how to empower themselves to have success in life. And when everything
11:42changed, and I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and now we talk about faith, and how God
11:51represents us in the best possible way, you know, everything's different. But I don't know that I
11:58would be here right now if, if I didn't have all the struggles that I have in my life. Not
12:04because
12:05you need to have struggles, or be handicapped to, to be, have a YouTube channel, but just because how
12:14it's changed me, and transformed me into somebody completely different. But I want you, that, that's me.
12:24I want you to think about, what if the reason you are still standing is not because you are
12:32strong, but because God's grace has held you together day after day. And, you know, we do not like
12:41that answer because it humbles us. Most people don't want to say, you know, God is the reason I
12:50overcame. They want to say, I overcame. I did that. I did this. And that's the society we live in
12:57right
12:57now. And you can say, I, and use I statements. But sometimes, the truest testimony is, I was sustained.
13:09And sustained is no small miracle. Because I want you to think about the cross from a distance.
13:16It looked like weakness, right? God was defeated. They whipped him. They beat him. They nailed him to
13:23a cross, killed him. It looked like defeat. It looked like the end of a movement. Yet, what appeared
13:33to be a loss was actually the greatest victory in history. Think about it. God has always been
13:40comfortable working through what looks fragile, rejected, or overlooked. And the world says,
13:49hide your weakness. God says, surrender it. The world says, project strength. God says, rely on grace.
14:01You know, imagine the freedom of no longer pretending. Imagine walking into your calling,
14:08aware of your limitations. What if it's just okay to have limitations? What if we can just admit that
14:17to ourselves and not be ashamed of them? Imagine saying, yes, this is where I struggle. And this is
14:26where God meets me. And that's been the most liberating moment of my entire life, is being
14:33able to say, hey, you know what? I have limitations. And I have struggles. And I pray. And God meets
14:42me
14:42there. Because when something extraordinary happens through obvious talent, people usually applaud that
14:50person. We love that person. We love that recognition. But when something extraordinary happens through
14:56visible weakness, people look up to you. They say, hey, that person can do it. So can I. Hey, that
15:06person
15:06overcame their depression. It's possible. I can overcome my depression. You know, I think we usually look at
15:15other people for that type of support, right? So, you know what? When we recognize that we have
15:24weaknesses, that we need help, and we admit that to others, they see God. Because your weakness does not
15:35cancel your calling. It clarifies it. It keeps you humble when success comes. It keeps you prayerful when
15:43pressure rises. And it keeps you dependent when pride tries to grow. And perhaps, most importantly,
15:53it makes you relatable to others. You know, you're not relatable when you're the guy that walks in the
15:59room with his head up in the air, and I'm better than all of you. You know, that's not a
16:04relatable person.
16:05A relatable person is somebody who's kind, friendly, humble, who listens to others. You know,
16:14someone out there does not need your perfection. What they need is your honesty. They need to know that
16:22faith is not the absence of struggle, but trust in the middle of it. And what if instead of God
16:33asking you to erase your weakness, you asked him to inhabit it? What if you stopped waiting to feel
16:42strong enough and simply stepped forward in obedience? What if the very place you have tried to cover up
16:51becomes the place where God's power shines the brightest? You know, one day, you may look back at the
16:59weakness you once despised and realize it was the very tool that shaped your character, deepened your
17:07faith, softened your heart, and positioned you for impact. It was never meant to destroy you. It was meant
17:19to draw you closer. And in that closeness and in that dependence, in that surrendered space,
17:26God does what only he can do. He turns weakness into a witness. He turns scars into stories. He turns
17:38broken
17:38places into holy ground. And maybe, just maybe, the part of you that feels least impressive
17:48is the exact place where heaven intends to move.
17:57It's true. I'm Douglas Van der Graaff, and I believe in Jesus Christ.
18:04I hope you all have a beautiful day. God bless you. Bye-bye.
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