2 Corinthians 12:9, 10, ‘And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong’.
Whenever we go through any difficulties or trials, let us always remember this Word.
MSG V10, ‘Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become’.
‘I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become’.
In the world, we love comfort. This generation is blessed with material blessings. We do not understand what is discomfort, until we really face it. The earlier generation understand this very clearly. There is a danger with comfort!
Like Apostle Paul said, ‘Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong’ – Can we say this, ‘when I am weak, then I am strong?’
V7, ‘Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!’ V8, ‘Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness’.
Apostle Paul is boasting about his weakness rather than boasting about the surpassing greatness of the revelations, he has; he was given a thorn in his flesh, to keep him from exalting himself, so that, the power of Christ may dwell in him! For us to reach God, our flesh needs to be weak, only then, we depend on God and we are strong. When we lose comfort, we complain, grumble; where does our strength lie? Is it on our money, our degrees, our jobs? What is it that people appreciate in us? Let us examine ourselves and let us boast only about our weaknesses so that the power of Christ may be manifested in us.
Matthew 13:19-23, ‘When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”’
We all have all these areas, it is up to us, to give importance to choose what is right; using our free-will. Make sure that our hearts, will be a good soil. Let us be thankful and do not complain on any small discomforts, but let Christ manifest in us through His grace, His nature in us. To gain the Spiritual strength, let Christ become strong in us, by boasting about our insults, distresses, trials, persecutions or sicknesses – whether it is earthly or spiritually. Do not sit in a corner like Jonah, but boast like Apostle Paul, who asked three times to God, to remove the thorn in his flesh, but God said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness’. This is when Apostle Paul realized that this weakness, ‘the thorn’ was kept in his flesh, for his ‘edification’. When we face any trials, issues in our daily lives, if our strength lies in God, then we will take hold of His grace, which Christ offers and we can overcome anything and thus we will grow spiritually. When we are weak, His power is perfected in us! This is required for our spiritual growth.
Corrie Ten Boom says, ‘You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have’.
All these weaknesses are required in our lives so we can be able to learn that Christ is all we need and He will deliver us and will not test us beyond our ability as the Bible says. He will give us the way of escape. His grace is sufficient for us, for power is perfected in weakness.
In this world, we get upset by different things we face and when we face any kind of discomfort, we sit in a corner! but God wants to manifest His power in us through our weakness.
God never used a qualified person or a person who is perfect. David – Even his father did not choose him to be worthy of being selected as king, when Samuel came. David was a weak shepherd boy, taking care of his sheep, who was communicating only to his sheep. God can change anything. Gideon also was chosen to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites. God filtered huge army to only 300 men, so that they might not boast in themselves! God deserves all the glory! When He is working in our lives, realize that our strength is coming only from Him, He gives us strength during our weaknesses. He is only transforming our lives through our situations. God used ordinary men to preach His Gospel, in New Testament like fishermen, tax collectors etc.
Judges 7:2, ‘The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’’
1 Corinthians 1:21, ‘For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.’
To the world, the Gospel preached is foolishness to them, when we really experience the trials and realize the importance of the Word which we are learning from our childhood and the small ways, in which the Lord speaks to us in our trials, our weaknesses, we are able to experience the power of God, manifesting in us. When we experience His Word in our lives, which gives us strength in our trials, we realize that through the trials that we go through, God is bringing transformation in our lives. Our faith is strengthened through the trials and weaknesses that we go through. Let us have this blessed life. Apostle Paul is a perfect example, when he said – ‘And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.’
Apostle Paul was a highly educated man but God brought him down, humbled him, by taking him through various series of trials and then he was transformed and he left everything that he was holding on to; he was serving the Lord with all humility. Through each weakness, let us ask God, ‘Lord, what is it that You want us to learn, so that we can trust You more, to have transformation in our lives?’ Holy Spirit gives us love, joy, peace in our hearts. Yield to the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Flesh always wants to work in its own strength but we need to fight against the flesh, it hurts but Christ is all we have and He is enough for us. Let us submit our lives to Christ, so He can change our spiritual lives from glory to glory.
Praise God.
