Articles
When I am Weak, I am Strong
The above title is taken from 2 Corinthians 12. In the context, the apostle Paul was given great revelations that could have tempted him to grow prideful and exalted. Here’s what Paul had to say concerning the situation:
“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! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 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. 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” (2 Cor. 12:7-10).
These verses written by Paul convey a clarity of suffering and weakness that he himself is experiencing. From the passage, we can conclude that Paul didn’t do anything wrong or commit any grievous sin. The point of his suffering and weakness is to make him turn to God for help and strength. God allowed Paul’s thorn in the flesh to continue in order that Paul might rely on God and trust in His grace. Paul himself came to the conclusion that his weakness wasn’t to be looked at as a negative but rather a positive.
In his weakness, God’s strength would be perfected. The point of Paul’s weakness and all our weaknesses is to cause us to realize we cannot succeed on our own. We all need to understand and remind ourselves that we were created by God and He is the only one who knows how to make our lives better and how to properly strengthen us when we need it the most. The more we seek to be independent of Him, the more likely we will fail and fall. When we begin to place trust in ourselves (pride), there is no telling how bad things can become in our lives. Like Paul, it’s not wrong to have an experience in which we feel special and prideful but we must not allow that to come in between or relationship with God.
When we are weak, it emphasizes our helplessness and our dependence upon the one who made us and sustains us. We are faced with the reality that we cannot do anything else but have faith in God it begins to reshape our entire mentality about life, about God and about the spiritual relationship we need to have with Him. Paul realized this and he was thrilled to allow God’s power to be perfected in his life through his weakness. We often make the point that Paul was one of the most faithful disciples in the NT. That is true but partly why it is true is because he relied on God’s grace and strength to work in his life.
There are many examples of people who were strong but became weak and turned to God for strength because they realized they couldn’t do it on their own. Some of these include Asa (2 Chron. 14:11), Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:12) and Hezekiah (2 Chron. 32:7-8). Perhaps the NT example that illustrates this point best is the story of the prodigal son (Lk. 15:11-24). When the prodigal son gained his inheritance and left his father’s house, it seemed like he had everything going for him. After some time, the son grew to be desperate, broken and in need of his father and his resources.
In his weakness, he came to his senses that he needed his father and he returned to his father’s house where he was received back. Our weakness help us to come to our senses to return to God who can give us the life we need. When we grow strong, we may become weak if we don’t keep our trust and faith in God. The bible repeatedly warns us of this (Deut. 6:10-12; 8:10-20; 32:15; 2 Chron. 26:1-16; Prov. 30:8-9). We need to constantly be on the alert that we don’t allow this attitude to take over. May we always remember that God’s power is perfected in our weaknesses.
