2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“9And he said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” – English KJV
“9καὶ εἴρηκέ μοι· ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου· ἡ γὰρ δύναμις μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελειοῦται. ἥδιστα οὖν μᾶλλον καυχήσομαι ἐν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις μου, ἵνα ἐπισκηνώσῃ ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 10διὸ εὐδοκῶ ἐν ἀσθενείαις, ἐν ὕβρεσιν, ἐν ἀνάγκαις, ἐν διωγμοῖς, ἐν στενοχωρίαις, ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ· ὅταν γὰρ ἀσθενῶ, τότε δυνατός εἰμι.”
“9kai eirēken moi arkei soi ē charis mou ē gar dunamis en astheneia teleitai ēdista oun mallon kauchēsomai en tais astheneiais mou ina episkēnōsē ep eme ē dunamis tou christou. 10Dio eudokeo en astheneiais en ubresin en anankais en diōgmois kai stenochōriais uper christou otan gar asthenō tote dunatos eimi.” – Greek Pronunciation
This Scripture is one of my favourite and really challenged me to look at my life and my challenges in a whole new way.
In Context:
Before we can understand what Paul is saying here we have to read the verses leading up to this point. Paul is talking about suffering for Christ and mentioning the things that has happened to him.
How often do bad things happen to us or troubling times cross our path? Some people go through many tough times, while others almost only seem to experience good times! The truth is that every single person will go through tough times. It is not “if” they come, but “when” they come. So we must be prepared to handle these situations and always remember that God is with us every step of the way. Whoever thinks that following Jesus is all sunshine and roses or “slow-motion in the corn fields” has never read Paul’s story!
In this section Paul tells us his testimony of his suffering. Whenever we get to a point in our lives where we think that our troubles are just too much for us to handle we must return to this testimony for encouragement. It is a good exercise to compare our own situation with that of Paul.
Let’s have a look at the list of troubles that Paul had to deal with (2 Cor 11:22-33):
- He received 39 stripes (remember Passion of the Christ?) five separate times, which is a total of 195 lashes!
- He was beaten with rods 3 separate times (these weren’t light beatings either…)
- He was almost stoned to death once.
- He was shipwrecked 3 times.
- He was in peril in the ocean and on the land.
- He was persecuted by the Romans and other foreigners, his own people and those who pretended to be his friends.
- He was robbed by thieves and they even stole his clothes, so he had to go naked!
- He had to go nights without sleeping and days of traveling with no food or water.
- He was imprisoned often.
- And as if that was not enough, he was also plagued by a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan. (Messenger in Greek is “Angelos”, which is also translated as “angel” in English. Therefore he was plagued by an angel from Satan – in other words: a demon).
(And more things happened after he wrote this, so this is only part of it!)
When we look at this list, our own problems seem a little smaller.
All of this was happening to Paul and he asked God for deliverance three times:
“And He said unto me ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’”
In simple English that is: “No”. At first this answer seems strange, but as we ponder on this answer revelations start popping up.
At the end of the day, all that we really need is God’s grace, for which we must be eternally grateful! We do not even deserve God’s grace, yet He gives it to us freely, yet man has the audacity to think that he deserves more! Some Christians think they deserve a good lifestyle with lots of money and a life where everything comes easy, but this is not the case! We should be extremely grateful that we do not actually get what we really deserve!
Sometimes God blesses people with a good lifestyle or with remarkable talents. However, we must keep in mind that we do not deserve any of it, therefore we cannot demand it of God.
Think about this: How can God reveal His glory in our strengths? If a Christian has a lot of money, how can God’s provision be illustrated if He gives the man more money? If a Christian is a very good athlete, how can God’s endurance be illustrated if He helps him finish the race? Although God may do these things, He will focus on revealing Himself in our weaknesses.
When a poor Christian that has absolutely nothing manages to survive the month with enough to eat, God’s provision is magnified. When a Christian manages to hold out against troubled times, (where a man in the world would perhaps have taken his own life in the same situation), God’s strength is magnified! Where youth members are able to lead adults to the Lord, God’s power is magnified!
This does not mean that God does not help us in our strengths, but rather that we can glorify Him more by allowing Him to strengthen our weaknesses! This is exactly what Paul does in these verses:
“Most gladly therefore will I rather glorify in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake”
The Greek word “eudokeo”, translated as “I take pleasure”, literally means “to take pleasure” in something, or to approve of and be happy about something. The word translated as “infirmities” is “astheneia”, which means feebleness and can be either of the body or the mind, implicating frailty, weakness, sickness, disease, infirmity or malady. Effectively Paul is saying that he is happy about any weakness or trouble that enters his life. Why? So that the power of Christ can rest upon him and strengthen him!
How different would this world be if every Christian, instead of complaining about how tough their lives are and walking around like depressed zombies, would rather jump in utter joy because they had the opportunity to make God shine in their situation?
This is how the mindset of a Christian should actually be! Every time difficult situations come along we need to eagerly jump up and plan how we can glorify and magnify God’s strength using these circumstances! The enemy should fear even coming close to us, knowing that whatever he does we will turn around and make sure God is glorified! The world would be a completely different place – and little closer to Heaven.
Paul states it very well:
“For when I am weak, then am I strong”
These are very encouraging words that we should have imprinted on our hearts and displayed in our actions. In every weakness, disease, infirmity or frailty we must declare: “When I am weak, THEN AM I STRONG!”
God only works in us when we allow Him! Therefore allow Him into every circumstance! When we encounter something that we are not good at, allow Jesus in and say “When I am weak, then am I strong”.
When we face troubled times, we must remind ourselves that God’s grace is sufficient for us and that when we are weak, God can make us strong!
This is not just in troubled times or when we are sick, but also when we encounter a sin in our lives that we are struggling with. If, for example, your temper flares up easily and you enter into a conflict situation, call on Jesus in your mind. You will find that as you allow Jesus’ strength to supplicate you, your weakness will disappear. You will have the ability to bite your tongue and calm down.
Whatever you weaknesses may be, Jesus has enough strength to supplicate everyone, so allow Him into everything!
The challenge this week is to look for areas where we are weak and get God into those areas. The mountains ahead might be too big for us, but nothing is too big for God! We must allow Him to carry us over these mountains and ensure that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness!
