Not many of us would accuse the apostle Paul of being weak. He was persecuted, imprisoned, stoned and left for dead and eventually beheaded for spreading the gospel of Christ. Yet, he personally acknowledged his own confrontation with human weakness in his second letter to the Corinthian church. Just the fact of our humanity means that we, like Paul, face limitations. This Scripture connects three things: Grace, our weakness and God’s power.
God responded to Paul’s request that his “thorn in the flesh” be removed with this answer: “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” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
We don’t serve Christ for long before we discover an inevitable truth. We need His continual supply of power in our lives. That’s because all of us are human and share, in different ways, the weaknesses of humanity. As we walk with Jesus we constantly face natural limitations. That doesn’t necessarily mean moral weaknesses but it does cover the many issues we face that we can’t handle on our own.
That’s what Paul faced. He called it a “thorn in the flesh.” He couldn’t deal with it in his own power or he wouldn’t have asked God to take it away. We don’t know what that “thorn in the flesh” was but we don’t need to know. God gave a word to Paul that applied to him and covers every weakness we as believers face.
There is no surprise in this conversation between Paul and God because God never intended that we live our lives depending entirely on our strength alone. He has always planned to journey with us and supply His power to us as we need it. What Paul was doing is what we do as well. He was calling on God for help.
God gave Paul two assurances. First, that when confronted with our own weakness God would supply “perfect power.” Second, that in times of our weakness God’s power would rest on us. We need never fail because God will supply perfect power to rest on us and that is sufficient for us to deal with any situation.
The leading thought is God’s answer is why believers will never move away from this message of God’s grace. Grace is the channel for God’s help that we need. It opens the door for His power. When God says, “My grace is sufficient for you” it is enough because behind the door of His grace stands His mighty power that will rescue us in any situation. It isn’t God saying, “Don’t bother me. Deal with this yourself.” It is God saying, “Watch out, my perfect power is coming to rest on you in your weakness.”
We not only are saved by grace but grace is the door to the power of God covering our weaknesses for the rest of our lives.
Wally | GG Team
