Strength from Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:1–10 ESV

1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

How many of us are strong people every single second of every single minute of ever single hour of every single day? Mentally, physically, spiritually? When we look at strength and weakness, we often think of opposite attributes; one viewed as good, the other as bad.

When we think of strength, we think of attributes such as Action-Oriented, Analytical, Athletic, Confident, Courageous, Determined, Disciplined, Educated, Intelligent, Energetic, Focused, Intelligent, Leadership, Motivated, Team-Oriented, Trustworthy, Wise. Summing these up, strength is thought of as something that elevates us above others around us.

Weaknesses can include: Aggressiveness, Arrogance, Bossy, Close-minded, Complaining, Controlling, Cynical, Disorganized, Fearful, Greedy, Impatient, Impulsive, Indifferent, Insensitive, Intolerant, Irresponsible, Lazy, Lethargic, Loose-tongued, Mistrustful, Naive, Negative, Obstructive, Prejudiced, Reckless, Rude, Selfish, Shallow, Short-sighted, Stubborn, Undisciplined, Wasteful.

Weakness is often viewed as a flaw, that makes us less valuable, less desirable, less strong, or even less “human”. We don’t often talk of our weaknesses for fear over what others may think or how it may affect our image. Often times, we try to act as though we are strong and everything is alright. But there comes a time where we all have a breaking point. We have to acknowledge that weakness is part of who we are and by admitting it does not make us any less of a person.

Paul was not one to speak often of his strengths or his weaknesses. But in 2 Corinthians, he speaks to the false prophets and their assessment of the weakness that continues to plague him.

2 Corinthians 11:25-28 “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

Among all the things Paul endured on a day to day basis, the pressure of guiding and directing the churches placed an additional burden. The false prophets were trying to tell the church that Paul couldn’t be as righteous as he let on if all these bad things were happening to him. SURELY God would not let a man who was as religious as Paul suffer!

Yet all these things, he did not see them as weaknesses. 2 Corinthians 11:30 “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” Nothing would turn Paul away from Christ or his ministry - even what others viewed as his weakness, because he knew his relationship with Jesus. He COULD have boasted, 2 Corinthians 11:22-23 “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.” Paul knew what it was like to face adversity. He knew what it felt like to deal with weakness. But Paul looked at these times of adversity as a character building exercise that God turned into strengths.

We can look at adversities in our lives and learn from them the same way Paul did. Our weaknesses can help build our character, our identity, and our strength in God. It may not be that the trials are taken away, but that in those trials we see God’s divine hand helping guide us through the toughest times in life. Church, most of us are going through trying times now. It may be stress at work, difficulties with family, illness, discontentment, loss, financial strain, and the list could go on and on and on. But one thing we can know for sure. God can use what we may see as weakness for His honor, for His glory, and for our spiritual growth.

Boasting

2 Corinthians 12:1 ESV

1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

Paul COULD have boasted in what he was;

Philippians 3:4–6 ESV

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

But instead, he would not boast of anything BUT his weaknesses. Paul saw boasting as nothing that would be beneficial but instead chose to speak of the visions and revelations that God had given him. This would not have been his conversion experience on the Damascus road as it would have occurred about 20 years before the writing of 2 Corinthians. But this experience in which Paul would speak of happened in Macedonia. 2 Corinthians 7:5 “5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within.” God was preparing Paul for the stress and strain of ministry, and of the future life he would experience.

Out of Body Experience

2 Corinthians 12:2–6 ESV

2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

Notice he would not speak of himself directly, but instead introduces himself as “a man in Christ”. Fourteen years prior to this writing, God allowed Paul to be taken into the third heaven. The first heaven is the atmosphere we know, the stars and space (the cosmos) make up the second heaven, while the third - the place where God Himself resides - as Paul describes it PARADISE. Paradise is the picture of heaven, the place where God’s presence and glory are fully manifested and experienced.

He did not know if it was an actual experience or an “out of body” experience, but he knew God allowed him to see things that could not be explained. Don’t you see this as a similar experience of John as God allowed him to see visions while on the Isle of Patmos. Paul was given an experience that was deep, and was for his eyes alone. This experience, like parts of John’s experience, could not be revealed or shared to anyone. God knew Paul needed a very special experience that would prepare and strengthen him for the task ahead - including his recurring “thorn in the flesh” he would deal with in later years.

I think this shows us that there are times God will reveal things to us that are personal and meant for our growth. Yet, many of these experiences are for our eyes and understanding only - not that we would boast of our experiences with the Lord. It can make us appear super-spiritual, make others feel inferior, and makes others look for experiences to validate their relationship with God.

Even though Paul had every right to boast about the experience he had, I mean how many of us can even say the Lord allowed us to look into heaven? Yet Paul knew to boat of such a spiritual experience would be nothing but boasting in himself. He didn’t want to be judged by divine blessings, but by his life and the Lord he preached and taught. In no way did he want anyone to misinterpret that he had any extraordinary favor from God, he didn’t want people to look too highly of him, so he humbly kept his experiences to himself so he could live a life that exalted God and God alone.

At times we can allow the experiences God allows for us to become a stumbling block to our witness. We may look at the numbers of our ministry, the praise we may receive, the experiences God allows us to have, the position we may have in our work, or the publicity we may get for a job well done. However, we shouldn’t allow those earthly things become a source of boasting so it impacts our witness and our ministry.

Humbleness in Christ

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 ESV

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Even though Paul had some unimaginable heavenly experiences, an individual moment with the spiritual power of Christ, he realized the need for humbleness. He even knew God allowed him to experience “a thorn in the flesh” to keep him from getting to vain or overly proud of his accomplishments! Maybe God gave him this “thorn” so Paul would be reminded he was no better than others, or to remind him . What was Paul’s thorn? There are guesses of what it could have been; spiritual suffering such as attacks by Satan, opposition by men, occasional evangelistic failures, or a physical suffering such as a recurring fever from malaria, or poor eyesight. What the thorn was is not known, but it seems to be more of a physical ailment that he is dealing with. In these verse, Paul references the words flesh, strength, weakness, and infirmities which leads more towards a physical ailment. Galatians 4:13-15 gives us a description of a physical ailment “ You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.” Galatians 6:11 seems to support the physical ailment as Paul writes “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.”

Paul was blind for 3 days as a result of his contact with Christ on the road to Damascus, could it be that a serious injury to his eyes then could have precipitated into a life-long ailment that continued to get worse. Paul had asked God to remove it from him on three occasions. On three occasions, it had not been granted. Why?

We shouldn’t forget Christ asked that the suffering of the cross be taken from him yet it was not part of God’s divine plan. Paul experienced the same answer from God. God did not want Paul to be at risk for being puffed up - thinking to highly of himself because of the accomplishments God allowed him to experience. God wanted to reveal His power in Paul, so the weaker the vessel, the more of Christ’s power could be seen. Notice God answered Paul - “my grace is sufficient” - the blessings from God are sufficient to help a believer endure whatever they face in life. Paul responds “My strength is made perfect in weakness”; The weaker, the more humble the person, the more of God’s strength can be seen. If a person is self-sufficient, there is less need from God; but if they are weak, the importance of the need of God’s help, provision, and sufficiency can be felt. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Paul realizes there is a purpose for his thorn. The suffering was for a reason. It was so the power of Christ could be demonstrated and more clearly seen in his life. The idea of the power resting on Paul was that the power of Christ rests within us as believers just as the power of the Shekinah glory was in the holy of holies in the tabernacle.

The reason we suffer for Christ is all for His glory! Without the understanding of weakness of the flesh, we will never know the power of the spirit. When the believer is weak, they are strongest. How? Because we recognize our broken state and realize the true impact God has in strengthening us.

Conclusion

How do you fill a glass of water that is already full? You don’t without it spilling over. When we focus on ourselves and our own accomplishments, we leave little room for Christ. But when we empty ourselves…He can fill us!

One of the first ways re recognize the power of God within us is to acknowledge our weakness before the Lord. It is when we recognize our brokenness and weakness that God can pour His strength into us. But preacher, I feel like I’m overwhelmed by the thorn God has given to me. Yep, I agree. Been there. But, if we STAY there…we might need to see if we have emptied ourselves so God can fill us. It doesn’t mean we won’t still suffer from the thorn - remember God did not remove Paul’s, but Paul recognized it was for his benefit - so that God would be glorified.

Do we glorify God in our actions, our ministry, and our lives? Is He glorified in our life?