The Greatest Paradox...The Greatest Truth

Blessings to each of you as we look forward to the weekend.

Read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Key verses: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

“9 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. 10 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.”

I don’t know that I’ve ever felt my strongest during a time of weakness or frailty. I don’t know that when difficult times of trial and difficulty have come my way that I have felt like a “super-Christian”. And furthermore, I can’t say that I’ve exactly “delighted” in weaknesses or hardships. That is, when I look at it from strictly the human dimension.

The ultimate paradox seems to be “for when I am weak, then I am strong”(!). We have all had moments in life that have seemed like the ultimate hardship, difficulty, trial, or weakness. That ultimate moment of crisis could have been in a personal or relational sense or any other number of ways. The truth is that humanly speaking those moments are crushing. They can be devastating even. They impact our emotions and health. And they impact our communion with God, and our relationship with others. Worry, anxiety, difficulty, weakness, hardship, etc., can crush the human soul.

And yet, somewhere, somehow, God’s word breaks through to us with that great truth – “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Without reading the beginning of verse 9 this statement doesn’t make much sense. Verse 9 says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” At the moment of deepest despair, weakness, and anxiety, God’s grace is sufficient for us. When we trust in God’s grace to sustain us, then we are stronger than our weakness. When God’s grace becomes our ultimate anchor, then His power is made perfect in us and we are able to endure the tough times.

Where are you in this paradox? Has the weakness overcome you? Is there anxiety in your life that you need to trust God’s grace to? God’s grace and power are perfect in our weakness…but only when we yield to His loving call.

Prayer: Lord, in a world that is competing for our best, give me the faith to turn to You as my ultimate source of power. Help me trust in your grace to be sufficient for me. And help me to overcome my weakness with your power. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David