“…for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:10
That sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? We usually think strength means being able to handle things ourselves. Strong people don’t need help. Strong people have everything under control. Strong people can find a way to handle their difficulties themselves, right?
Paul discovered something completely different: sometimes our weakest moments can become the moments when we experience God’s greatest strength. Paul had what he called a “thorn in the flesh.” We aren’t told exactly what it was, and maybe that was on purpose. If God had told us exactly what Paul’s thorn was, we might read this passage and say, “Well, that doesn’t apply to me.” But everybody has a thorn of some kind. Yours may be a difficult circumstance that won’t change, a disappointment you can’t get over, a burden you can’t put down, or a problem you can’t solve.
Paul did exactly what most of us would do. He prayed for God to take it away. In fact, he prayed three times about it. Paul knew God could remove it. Think about it…this was the same God who had opened prison doors, healed the sick, and performed miracles through Paul’s ministry. Surely God could take away one thorn!
But God didn’t. Why?
SOMETIMES GOD SAYS NO.
Paul prayed, “…that it might depart from me.” But instead of removing the thorn, God said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Paul wanted deliverance, but God gave him His grace that was sufficient. Paul wanted his circumstances changed, but God wanted Paul changed through his circumstances. We sometimes think answered prayer means God takes the problem away. *But sometimes God answers prayer by giving us the strength to live through what He chooses not to remove. Maybe you’ve prayed about something again and again and nothing seems to have changed. Don’t assume God hasn’t heard you. His answer may not be, “I’ll take it away.” His answer may be, “I’ll give you enough grace to carry it.”
OUR WEAKNESS MAKES ROOM FOR HIS STRENGTH.
The Lord continued, “…for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” That completely changed the way Paul looked at his thorn. Paul finally understood that his weakness wasn’t keeping God from using him. His weakness was giving God an opportunity to show His strength through him. Think about a little child trying to carry something that is much too heavy. He struggles with it, pulls on it, and tries everything he knows to do.
Finally he looks up at his father and says, “Daddy, I can’t do it.” The father reaches down, picks it up, and carries what the child could never carry himself.
The child’s greatest moment of strength came when he finally admitted, “I can’t.” Maybe that’s where you are today. You’ve tried to fix it. You’ve tried to carry it. You’ve tried to figure it out. You’ve tried to be strong. And perhaps the Lord is waiting for you to finally say, “Lord, I can’t do this without You.” That’s not defeat. That’s dependence.
WHEN WE ARE WEAK, HE IS STRONG.
Paul eventually said something amazing: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” The thorn hadn’t changed, but Paul had. Instead of seeing his weakness as something that disqualified him, he began seeing it as a place where Christ could display His power. Then Paul gave us this wonderful truth: “…for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
GRACE TO FACE.
Maybe you feel weak today. You don’t know how you’re going to handle what’s ahead. You don’t have the answers. You don’t have enough strength. That may actually be a good place to be, because when you reach the end of your strength, you haven’t reached the end of His! Stop trying to prove how strong you are and start depending upon how strong He is. His grace is still sufficient. His strength is still perfect. And whatever He allows you to face today, He will give you the grace you need to face it. Sometimes God doesn’t take away the thorn. Sometimes He shows us that His grace is greater than the thorn.
Think it over…
0 Comments