His Strength

“To keep me from becoming conceited…there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. 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.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV

Everyone has a temptation and sin that they find hard to resist. Ones that seem to have the power to control you. The kind that makes you forget how far God has brought you and what He’s released you from.
       Paul’s tormented him and so he turned to God for release, but God’s answer can be surprising to us. He said no.
       This is the point where people begin to turn from and on God. They think He’s the enemy because He will not help them become better in that area-He won’t take it away. These verses from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians reveal why God sometimes doesn’t take these temptations away.
       First, having that weakness kept Paul humble instead of “becoming conceited” because of how much God was doing through him and showing him. He understood his own limitations and that of others better because it was there. He was able to be more compassionate and less judgmental because of this reminder of his own weakness and humanity.
       More importantly, however, it kept him focused on God’s love and goodness.
       Instead of taking the temptation away from Paul, God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (v.9).
       It sounds like Paul was messing up and having weaker days where he came too close to giving in to the temptation and probably days where he even committed the sin. He wasn’t being the man he wanted to be for God in that area and so he pleaded that God would take it away.
       God’s response reveals that He doesn’t need us to be perfect. His grace is enough to cover over our sins. We just had to take hold of it’s power.
       God is willing to give us continual grace so long as we’re not looking to abuse it. The grace that He gives us makes His power in our lives perfect because it shows just how far He can truly take someone despite their flaws and weaknesses. By seeing how much we can’t do, we are able to see all that He can do.
       Paul came to a point where he was truly able to delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties because he was able to see and experience more of God’s power, love, and goodness through them.
       When we accept the reality of our weaknesses (there’s a difference between doing this and settling), we are able to stop making a way for ourselves and watch as God moves in and though our lives.
       “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (v.10). I never understood that sentence until this morning.
       In the stories of our weakness lies the testimony of God’s power. That’s why Paul was so willing to boast about his weaknesses. Let’s stop trying to hide the ways we are imperfect and allow the full story of what God has done for us to shine through. Only then will others truly begin to run to and trust Him.