Pride Prevention - God Dependency -7

Our last post challenged us to boast and glory in our adversity. Paul’s got to be kidding. Accepting it? Possibly. Boasting in it? That needs further explanation.

The reply Paul received for thorn removal was undoubtedly not the one he was hoping for: He (God) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you" (v. 9). The first thing to observe is that Paul's request was not granted. The adversity was not taken away. Instead he was provided the grace to tolerate it. This grace, denoting divine power, is sufficient for him. Adequate enough to not only bear the thorn but to see the value of it.

The value? God's grace is sufficient because his power is made perfect in weakness (v. 9). “Where human strength abounds, the effects of divine power may be overlooked. But where human strength fails, the power is clearly seen to be God's.” Jesus told His followers, “When I go to the Father, you’ll do greater things than I do,” (not in our own strength-but God’s.

Barclay’s Commentary gives us some insight here. Paul's statement is a rather startling one: God's power neither displaces weakness nor overcomes it. On the contrary, it comes to its full strength in it. At issue is how God manifests his power. Paul's opponents claimed that it is best seen in visions, ecstasies and the working of signs and wonders (2 Cor.12:1, 12). Paul, on the other hand, maintained that God's power is most effectively made known in and through weakness. Indeed, God's power is made perfect in weakness. Not that we are to cherish our infirmities. That would be labeled masochism. Weakness of itself will perfect nothing. But when the human vessel is weak, the divine power is especially evident, and the weakness proves to be a great commercial for God.

So far from hindering the gospel, Paul's thorn actually served to advance it. This is why he aims to boast only in his weaknesses (11:30; 12:5). Paul not only has accepted his weaknesses and learned to live with them, but he also takes pleasure in them. Why? Because these very weaknesses afford the opportunity for the power of Christ to rest on him (v. 9). This is why Paul can go on to say, "I am content with my weaknesses" I delight in them (NIV).

James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:3-5 corroborate this mind set. Rejoice and cooperate with God in tough times because one of the blessings of adversity is the realization that character growth is taking place…”making us strong and complete, ready for anything.”

Paul concludes with for when I am weak, then I am strong (v. 10). But what does it mean? How can one be weak and strong at the same time. We often think that without human strength we are destined to fail and without personal courage we are bound to falter. Yet good as these are, such qualities tend to push us to self-sufficiency and away from God-dependency. Samson was superlatively endowed with strength, but in the end this very strength brought about his destruction (Judges 15:16; 16:18-30. And the Bible describes how He uses weak instruments to accomplish His purposes. Recall Moses’s rod (Exodus 4:12); a jawbone-Judges 15:5 stones – 1 Samuel 17:40; Burning bush-Exodus 3:2-5; Balaam’s jackass-Numbers 22:28-30. Zechariah 4:6 wraps it ups neatly: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.”

Have you identified your thorn – your personal adversity? Do you sense the value of the thorn? Are you and I boasting and glorying in the thorn? What a strengthening to our minds and spirits as we follow this Biblical principle.
Man! Do I have a way to go. I am grateful for the power of the Holy Spirit within, to do in me and through me what I’m incapable of doing myself.