Strength In Weakness
“7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Even in our weakness, we are strong. That’s a paradox. A paradox is a statement that seems contradictory but can actually be true. For example, if you say “I was all alone in a room full of people,” this statement is a contradiction. We know that you can’t be alone and surrounded by people at the same time, but if we take a deeper look into this phrase, it reveals a deeper truth. What this paradox actually means is that even though you are surrounded by people, you can feel alone.
The Bible is full of paradoxes just like this. If you’ve been in church for a while, you’ve probably heard “the last shall be first, and the first shall be last” and “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” We know that it’s not possible for the last to be first; instead, we should take this as an example of humility and service. Jesus is telling us that we should put ourselves last, not let our pride and selfishness come first.
Think about the second paradox. How is contradictory? How does it go against everything we believe about blessings? Most times we believe that the only way for us to be blessed is by being on the receiving end of the equation, but in reality, we can be blessed by being a blessing to others.
Now that we understand what a paradox is and how to break it down, let’s talk about the topic of the day - strength. Think about what strength means to you. Is it physical? Maybe it’s mental or emotional for you. What does weakness mean to you?
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 contains a paradox. We don’t know what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” actually was. It could have been something physical like a bad back or migraine headaches, or it could have been something mental like anxiety or stress. No matter what it was, Paul had an issue that he wanted God to remove. However, God told him that he would not remove it and that His “power is made perfect in [Paul’s] weakness.”
In our life, God’s definition of strength is our complete dependence on Him. Paul tells us in verses nine and ten that his weakness is a good thing! That’s a paradox! How can Paul be weak and strong at the same time? Because in our weakness, God’s strength is revealed. We find His strength in our weakness.
We see in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that God places value on the weak. Know that you don’t have to find the strength within yourself, but rather that God wants to use your weakness for His Glory.