Weak Things Strong
Faith in the middle of the wait
Written by Shane Pierson
The words
I’ve been sending out my nameto people I don’t knowtrying to find the doorYou’re already walking toward
Some mornings I wake upwith the math against my chestbut I don’t feel as lostas a man like me should get
Maybe this is what You meantwhen You said You’d show meall the places I was weakwithout leaving me lonely
You make weak things strongin the middle of the waitwhen I don’t have the answerbut I still know where to face
You put hope in my boneswhere the fear used to runand I’m walking through the unknownlike I’m not walking it alone
You make weak things strongYou make weak things strong
I used to read those storieslike they happened far awayprophets staring down the impossiblewith heaven in their frame
Now I’m staring at my own wallsnot stone, not prison barsjust bills and calls and silenceand the wrestling of my heart
And somehow You keep teachingin a voice I almost missthat faith is not pretendingit is power underneath
You make weak things strongin the middle of the waitwhen I don’t have the answerbut I still know where to face
You put hope in my boneswhere the fear used to runand I’m walking through the unknownlike I’m not walking it alone
You make weak things strongYou make weak things strong
My mother sent the verseslike she knew what I would needfools may laugh at weaknessbut You plant power in the meek
So I’ll seek this Jesusthe prophets wrote aboutthe One who stays and abideswhen my own strength runs out
You make weak things strongright here in the waitbefore I see the endingYou teach my soul to stay
You put hope in my bonesand direction in my feetand I’m walking toward a futureYou’ve been arranging quietly
You make weak things strongYou make weak things strong
I don’t know the whole roadbut I know who walks with me
The story behind it
This song came from Ether chapter 12, but it really came from living inside a season where I needed that chapter to be true.
I have been in a period of searching, waiting, applying, wondering, and trying to understand what direction Heavenly Father wants me to go next. On paper, it has been stressful. There have been plenty of reasons to feel uncertain about the future, and if I am being honest, there are days where the practical side of life can feel loud. Work. Money. Timing. Identity. Responsibility. The whole thing can start pressing on your chest if you let it.
But what has surprised me most is that I have not felt abandoned in it.
I have felt oddly confident. Not because everything is figured out. It is not. Not because I have some perfect map. I do not. But because I have been reaching for the Spirit, asking Heavenly Father where He wants me, and trying to pay attention to the direction He gives piece by piece. Somewhere in that process, faith has become more than an idea to me. It has felt like a hidden power.
That is what Ether 12 does so beautifully. It talks about faith as something that moves people before the outcome is visible. It gives people hope for a better world. It becomes an anchor to the soul. It makes men and women sure and steadfast. It leads them to glorify God.
Then the chapter goes even deeper.
My mom sent me the verses about weakness. Moroni is worried that people will mock his words, and the Lord answers him directly: fools mock, but grace is sufficient for the meek. If we come unto Christ, He will show us our weakness. He gives us weakness so we can be humble. And if we humble ourselves and have faith in Him, He will make weak things become strong.
That hit me differently.
Because sometimes weakness is not dramatic. Sometimes it is not a prison wall, a battlefield, or some massive visible trial. Sometimes it is sitting in your house wondering what comes next. Sometimes it is sending your name into rooms you have never been in. Sometimes it is trying to provide, trying to lead your family, trying to stay useful, trying to hear God clearly, and trying not to let fear become the loudest voice in the room.
That is where this song came from.
I used to read the stories of prophets and think about faith moving through ancient lives in ancient circumstances. Ether 12 talks about people who were strengthened, delivered, guided, and made powerful through faith. Lately, I have started to understand that same pattern in a much more personal way. The Lord still does that. He still works through ordinary people in ordinary houses, in modern uncertainty, with bills on the counter and questions about the future.
He may not always give the whole road at once. But He gives enough direction to take the next step. He gives enough peace to keep walking. He gives enough hope to keep you from collapsing under the weight of what you do not know yet.
That is the hidden power of faith.
It is not pretending things are easy. It is not acting like stress is not real. It is knowing that God is watching, arranging, preparing, correcting, strengthening, and leading even when the path is not fully visible.
This song is my testimony that weak things really can become strong in Christ. Not eventually in some distant, poetic way. Right now. In the middle of the wait. In the middle of uncertainty. In the middle of searching for what comes next.
Faith has helped me stand steadier than I should have been able to stand. Hope has had weight to it. The Spirit has kept pulling my eyes back toward the Lord.
I do not know the whole road yet.
But I know who is leading me.
Scripture
- Ether 12:4Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.
- Ether 12:6And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
- Ether 12:27And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Testimonies & reflections
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