He sees worth where you see weakness or failure
The world is quick to celebrate boldness, strength, and the people who make the most noise. Fame loves loud personalities, those who seem untouchable. But quietly, in the background, there’s another type of person the world forgets, those who feel weak, worn out, or unseen.
Maybe that’s you.
Maybe you feel like you’ve failed too many times, like you’ve been broken by life. Maybe you feel like the light you once had is barely flickering now. Here’s the thing, Jesus doesn’t overlook the weak. He specializes in holding up the ones the world discards.
Bruised reeds & smoking flax…….. that’s us
Spurgeon paints the picture powerfully:
The bruised reed, once tall, now bent, cracked, barely standing.
The smoking flax, a once bright flame, now reduced to a faint glow, nearly smothered.
Weak. Fragile. Forgotten.
God’s word says: “A bruised reed I will not break, and a smoking flax I will not quench.” (Isaiah 42:3). In other words, the world tosses aside the weak, but Jesus leans in and holds them.
God starts with the broken
The work of God always begins with bruising. Before salvation, before strength, comes brokenness. The hard heart must be ploughed and the soul must be cracked open. In the moment, it feels painful, but it’s where Grace begins. You reach a point where you can’t lean on yourself anymore, so you lean fully on Him.
If you feel useless, God’s view of You is different
Maybe you’ve thought:“I’m no good. I’m not a preacher, not a leader. I’m too weak, too inconsistent. What could God possibly do with me?”
But God’s kingdom doesn’t run on human qualifications, you might feel like a bruised reed, ready to snap, like a dim light, hardly useful. But Jesus doesn’t throw you away, He doesn’t measure worth by strength, performance, or popularity. What the world discards, He redeems.
Strength isn’t the absence of weakness
Some believers seem like spiritual giants, bold, fearless, unshaken. However, the majority of God’s people, are seen or perceived as Weak. Tossed by temptation, overwhelmed by trials, often feeling like failures. And that’s the point, Jesus doesn’t ask you to be strong on your own. He promises: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Your weakness is where His power shows up.
Your daily work matters more than you think
You might be a mother, spending your days quietly raising children, or a worker, grinding day by day, barely noticed.
Maybe you even feel like you’re doing nothing significant for God.
But faithfulness in the small, unseen places matters to Him. You glorify God as much interceding for others when no one is noticing, caring for the needy, or sweeping the street as leading an empire, if you do it for His glory.
1 Question for You
You’ve spent too long disqualifying yourself, telling yourself you’re too bruised, too burned out, too far gone to matter. But Jesus never asked for perfect people. He lifts bruised reeds. He reignites smoldering flames.
The weakness you’re hiding is exactly where God wants to work. It all comes down to this, Will you stop counting yourself out, and let Him use what you’ve almost given up on?