As we have seen throughout this study Paul pressed ahead through a series of intense hardships (2 Cor 11:22-28).
On top of all this laundry list of pain, the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh. The Lord answered his desperate prayers to remove the thorn, whatever it may have been. The answer, “My grace is sufficient for you, b/c power is perfected in weakness.”
This is a radical concept. It is basically anti-American. This isn’t a pull yourself up by your bootstraps motto. Strength is not found in good genetics or hard work, it is found in God’s power. Matter of fact the only way to qualify to receive strength is to be weak.
I think we’d rather admire Paul for his strength in trials, his quick thinking. He had a well trained mind and had a genetic predisposition to handle pain. I think if Paul was alive today he would resist such an idea. He would correct such a misstatement and say, “Strength comes from embracing weakness and boasting in that.”
Scottish preacher, James Stewart, made a similar, challenging statement:
“It is always upon human weakness and humiliation, not human strength and confidence, that God chooses to build his Kingdom; and that He can use us not merely in spite of our ordinariness and helplessness and disqualifying infirmities, but precisely because of them.”
Embracing this truth transforms our mental attitude toward our circumstances.
Our humiliations, struggles, battles, weaknesses, feelings of inadequacy, and helplessness are precisely what make you and I effective.
