Then I am Strong
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
I have heard that if you are drowning and someone is trying to save you, the worst thing you can do is to continue to struggle. To be saved, you have to surrender yourself to the one who has come to your rescue. You have to relax, put yourself in their grip, and trust them. In a sense, this is what Paul has learned through his “thorn in the flesh” experience.
Whatever that thorn was, three times Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove it from him, but the Lord didn’t take it away. God was not silent about it though. He spoke and said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God was giving Paul exactly what he was praying for, but it wasn’t going to come the way Paul desired.
Paul wanted strength restored. The thorn was robbing him of his natural powers and, therefore, of being able to do the things he felt called and compelled to do. In truth what Paul needed was not a return to his own strength but an awakening to the strength of Christ in him. The strength of Christ would not be realized and made evident apart from Paul’s weakness. His suffering was the necessary precursor to Christ’s strength.
Once he discovered this universal principle of Christian living – Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness – it changed the way he saw everything. He became content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. These were now new ways in which Paul could experience grace and the power of Christ in him.
Whatever our trial or trouble, it is a new opportunity to experience God’s grace and the power of Christ. We just need to learn to be content in it, to rest in the grip of Christ, and trust Him.
