The Grace to Keep Going

 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

7 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!
8 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." 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.

When you listen to someone speak, what gives his or her words weight? How do you decide to listen to what’s being said? Most often, we measure a person's message against his or her experience, dismissing words that don’t match the speaker’s story. Therefore, when we come to the apostle Paul’s discussion of God’s sufficiency, we ask, “Is this something Paul can really talk about?”

And we are able to read the Word and see that the answer is a resounding yes. Paul’s personal testimony recounts some of the hardships that confronted him (2 Cor. 11:22-28). He was imprisoned, beaten, threatened, stoned, ship-wrecked, robbed, and chased throughout his entire ministry. On top of all this, he had a persistent, unrelenting “thorn” oppressing his body (2 Cor. 12:7-8).

 You’d think that God would keep His best servants in perfect condition and optimal health. Yet, here we see that although Paul prayed for relief, God’s answer was not what he expected. Rather than receiving a grand, sweeping cure, Paul was given a deeper answer: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9).

 Through that difficulty, God taught Paul a vital lesson: It does not matter how weak we think we are, or how oppressed or downtrodden. In God’s hands, our weakness makes room for His strength. And it is through His power—and His power alone—that we can do amazing things. Perhaps you struggle with your own “thorn.” If so, instead of praying for a quick fix, ask God what He wants to accomplish through your weakness. Your human frailty just may be the vessel through which God can display His unlimited power to the world.