Power in Weakness

2 Corinthians 12: 8-10 -   Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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.  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.

Paul is referring to his…thorn…his human weakness.  We are not told exactly what that is…but it must have caused Paul a lot of grief…he asked God to take it away three times.  God never did…he just told Paul that he needed to rely on him more…to quit worrying about it….to allow God to take that weakness and use it…to show his power.

One day…I hope to see my weaknesses as Paul did.  I have to admit…I haven’t quite learned this lesson.  He is in the process of teaching me…I am beginning to understand what he is talking about…but it is so very hard…to just let God be in control….all the time.  It is so very hard to see from a human perspective how God will use my random thoughts….my bad habit of interrupting…my selfishness….but the promise is there…right in Paul’s words to the Corinthians.  God can and will use all my faults to somehow show his power.  Amazing.

I have read this lesson more than once…as I have read through the bible…but because I am human...I needed a Google search to remind me that God has already tried to put this thought in my hard head.  In Isaiah 53:10-11 it says, “ Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.  After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”  Isaiah was predicted the very son of God….Jesus himself had to become weak…so that God could show his power in his resurrection!  We will see the light of God’s life…and be satisfied. Again I say Amazing!

And I had forgotten the passage in Romans 5….where Paul described the perfect peace and joy we can tap into when we get this lesson right.  In verses 1-6   he says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” One more time I say…Amazing!

Father….allow me to ask you this morning for the strength to grasp this lesson.  Paul asked you three times to remove his faults…but in your great wisdom you left him as he was so you could use his human weakness to show more of your love. You have tried to teach me this lesson…at least three times now…so I ask in your name and power that you allow me to fully understand and grasp just how deep and wide your love is to use even my human weaknesses….which are many.  Forgive me this morning for all the times you sent me this message and I just did not see it…..and thank you for the sacrifice you made of your son…so that I can learn to be satisfied with all that I am…and allow you to use me to spread your love to others. Amen.