Strength In Weakness
And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me. That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For whenever I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)
Paul tells us that he was given a thorn in his flesh, but he does not mention what that thorn in the flesh was. Many people have speculated what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was. But that’s beside the point.
The thorn in the flesh that Paul was given served a purpose. God told Paul that it was given to him to keep him humble and remind him that God’s grace was sufficient for him. This reminded Paul that when he felt the weakest; when he appeared to be at his weakest and his lowest, that was when he was the strongest in Christ.
Life can get us down. It can push us to our lowest and seem to kick us while we are down. Whether it’s our health, our financial situation, our mental health, or any other thing that makes us feel weak and neglected by God, we are reminded of God’s grace. When we face difficulties, persecution, hardships, or insults, our sinful nature wants to get even or find someone to change the situation we are in. But in those situations, God wants to remind us of his grace. He wants us to look to the cross, and see the persecution and the insults that Jesus took for us so that we might have his grace freely given. And he invites us to take those cares and concerns that we have, those feelings of anger, fear, and hatred, and those sinful thoughts, and place them at the foot of the cross. There we can trust that Jesus has already taken care of them. There we exchange our weaknesses for his strength. There, at the cross, we find a strength that is never overcome or defeated. There we find the grace of God and the power of Christ sheltering us. Amen.
The song for today is “Sufficient For Me” by Jonathan Ogden