Weakness, Fear, And Trembling

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the LORD. And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.  

I Corinthians 1:30-2:3

Christ gets the glory. As Paul is writing to the Corinthians, he points them to Christ as he had from the beginning. For a moment, he speaks of himself. As he does, he reveals what to us, is perhaps a quite different picture of himself than we would paint in our minds. We think of Paul as the great lion of God, fearless, unashamed, boldly preaching Christ. He did certainly preach Christ boldly, however, he says of himself, ‘I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.’ Paul does no image managing. He had issues and was honest about them. This is a far cry from the presentation of public personas we commonly observe. Paul is refreshingly forthright. What is most important as we read him is that Christ gets the glory. Paul determined not to do anything else among the Corinthians but preach Christ and Him crucified. He could have attempted to impress them with excellence of speech or of wisdom, but he did not. He could have attempted to manage his image, but he did not. His one purpose was to make much of Christ. In that, he admirably succeeded. What he did, we also seek to do. Christ is all. 

Our Great God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You have given us the privilege to proclaim Christ. 
We praise You that You uphold us, 
with all our weaknesses.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning