In the holy and sacred book that was passed down from our spiritual ancestors, we read the story of a leader, Paul, who shared wisdom and advice about weaknesses.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 we read his story: "I was given a thorn in my flesh. . . . 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."
Paul's thorn in the flesh was probably some physical infirmity that wouldn't go away. Paul considered this infirmity as a weakness-perhaps he felt it slowed him down and didn't make him feel like he was at his best physically. Yet, he described this weakness in the opposite way than the world sees such an illness.
In the context of this scripture, Paul was struggling with false prophets who were living in Corinth. These false prophets liked to brag about visions and revelation, so Paul surprised everyone. When you read 2 Corinthians 12: 1–13, you see these false prophets boast about their visions. Paul said if anyone could boast about having visions it was him, because he had a vision years earlier about reaching the very throne of God-but the Creator had told him to keep quiet about it. Yet, Paul didn't want to spend much time even referring to the vision he had.
Paul said if he was going to boast about anything, he would focus on this thorn in his flesh. Although he asked the Creator to take it away, the Creator had His reasons for letting Paul live with this physical infirmity. Yes, it probably slowed him down and made him feel weaker than he wanted to, but this thorn in his flesh was a gateway for him to receive grace and the power of the Creator (Jesus Christ).
The passage says, "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."
The Lord told this spiritual leader that the true power in his life came from rejoicing in all these types of oppositions. Paul then pointed out that these weaknesses actually set us free, because it allows the power of Christ to rest on us that much more. When these weaknesses are evident, we actually feel stronger.
Without a strong physical or spiritual heart people normally don't get much done. Yet, Paul was one of the most influential spiritual leaders of all time. He wrote more letters than anyone in the New Testament and embarked on several missionary journeys. Paul actually learned to delight in weaknesses. And he gladly boasted about these weaknesses more than anything else.
People who are not believers in Jesus usually say that weaknesses aren't good to have. The world says you must conquer all your weaknesses, so you can stand above the rest and reach your full potential. They say you should take charge of your life and not let anyone boss you around or push you around. Stand up and be strong.
Paul said that for Christ's sake, he delighted in these weaknesses because Jesus was a man who endured many weaknesses as a human, even though He was fully God and fully human. In fact, before Jesus started His three years of ministry from the age of 30 to 33, He went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days-with Satan tempting Him. His ministry was rooted in weaknesses that gave root to strength on the cross, where He died for everyone's sins.
Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, yet Jesus never gave in to those taunts and temptations. Paul did his best to serving God and never gave in to Satan's taunts.
What would you consider your weaknesses to be? Don't run from them. Embrace them and let God use them to heal you. Rejoice in them and see what happens.
My brothers and sisters across North America let the power of Christ rest on your broken heart and life. You'll never regret it.
Parry Stelter is a Bible teacher, author and speaker. He is founder of Word of Hope Ministries. If you
are interested in having Parry do a workshop on dealing with grief, loss and trauma, you can contact him at parry@ wordofhopeministries.ca.
