Paul played the Opposite Game Too!

Alright, so I’m reading in 2 Corinthians 12 today, and it appears that the Apostle Paul played the opposite game too. Apparently, Paul’s got this “thorn in the flesh” problem, as he calls it, that just won’t go away. He asks God 3 times to remove it from his life, and No Dice…

So then he comments on God’s response back to him in v. 9… “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'” Then he goes on to write, “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 dufficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Okay, seriously, who talks like that? Nobody in our world, right? Paul flips it all around. The world around us says, “hide your weaknesses, cover them up, work on them, etc.” Paul says just the opposite. Recognize that God uses that weakness to keep us dependant on Him. In other words, if we could beat this stuff in our own strength, then God wouldn’t get any glory. So He leaves a certain amount of weakness in our lives, just to keep us leaning into Him.

I have read this verse or quoted it literally a hundred times in the past 15 years, but today it just seems more real and true then ever.

Thank you Jesus…

Are you dealing with a “weakness” you can’t seem to get over? There’s a good chance it’s there, to make you lean into God daily… “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

What kind of crazy opposite game is that?

Keller