Do you remember the story about the man with the withered hand?

The Bible says Jesus went into a synagogue and noticed a man with a weakness. His hand was deformed. We’re not told if it was like that from birth or possibly from an accident. But Jesus said to him, “[Stretch] Hold out your hand” (Mark 3:5) and when the man did what Jesus asked, his hand was completely restored.

This is an incredible miracle of healing, but I see something deeper.

Jesus asked this man to do something very terrifying to most people. When asked to stretch out his hand, we tend to picture the results of this man’s miracle because we are on this side of the story. But pause withe me for a moment and put yourself in his shoes.

In front of a large crowd, with everybody looking directly at him, Jesus basically said to him: “Reveal your weakness.”

A weakness is anything that lacks strength or is feeble. It describes an inadequate or defective quality, a fault or a defect. Other words that describe weakness include: blemish, flaw, imperfection, infirmity, lack, and shortcoming.

We all have them.
And we all try to hide them.

None of us want to reveal our weaknesses.

One reason is because the devil loves making us feel inferior to others by focusing on our flaws and shortcomings. But Jesus obviously has a different agenda than our enemy.

The word reveal means to make known, to divulge, or to lay open to view. We could also say: bring to the light, confess, declare, make known, or make public. The opposite would be to conceal or hide.

Jesus didn’t ask this man to reveal his weakness so others could laugh or make fun of him. No– Jesus asked the man to be honest with himself and God so he could be healed. If the man was willing to let God (and the world) see his struggle, Jesus could do a miracle for him.

But if his weakness remained hidden, it would always be his vulnerability (and the devil’s target).

What I want you to learn from this is: What you’ve struggled with can be a testimony to help others.

My sister once said to me, “Daphne, if you wouldn’t tell your story, no one would ever know the mistakes you’ve made.” This was many years ago, and I don’t think she still sees things this way, but at the time, she was simply trying to protect me from embarrassment.

But Mirror Ministries wouldn’t exist to help others if I had kept my weaknesses to myself.

Don’t give the devil that kind of power.

Remember fear is never from God.

The number one reason we hide our weaknesses is because we’re afraid of what others will think of us. But consider Queen Esther. She was initially afraid of revealing her true identity to the king for fear of rejection and retaliation. But salvation came to her people when she decided to go against her fear and reveal who she really was.

The Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). This means when we’re afraid, it’s a sure-fire sign the devil has us where he wants us. My prayer is that you would refuse to willingly give him that kind of power over you.

Years ago, I was speaking at a conference that several ladies from my church drove over to attend. In the middle of my message, the Holy Spirit prompted me to share about some early shame I had carried into my walk with God. I had spoken of these things one-on-one with ladies before but never publicly. I’ll never forget the looks on the faces of a couple of women on the front row. I could read their lips as they looked at each other: “Did you know that?!”

I could’ve let it intimidate me, but I knew they were simply surprised. Afterwards, one of them came up to me and shared how she had gone through something identical and my testimony brought her great healing.

Simply because I was willing to reveal my weaknesses.

So be encouraged today: You have nothing to fear by telling your story. Others will be helped by your honesty. And God will be able to do so much more in your life than you could ever imagine.