How are we Stronger in Weakness?

Part 1

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”         2 Corinthians 12:10

Why do terrible things happen to good people? I’ve heard both Christians and non-Christians ask this question. This is also why so many people leave the faith or in some instances, they choose to stop believing in God altogether. They blame God for the awful thing that happened to them or their loved one. They say things like, “If God loved me, He wouldn’t allow me to suffer like this.” or “what kind of a God would allow the suffering of good people, even little children?”. Another statement that I’ve heard before is, “well if there is a God, why wouldn’t he stop all of this bad stuff from happening?”. And I’ll admit, it is really hard to understand the relationship between God and our suffering. This is why I chose 2 Corinthians 12:10 as a springboard for this post. I believe Paul does the best possible job that anyone could do of explaining why we suffer in 2 Corinthians 12. But I ask you to give this some thought as we go forward, when are we closest to God? When are we the most vulnerable? Are we more likely to turn to God when we are on top of the world or when we are at our lowest point? I heard someone say one time, in regards to Jesus dying on the cross, “What kind of a father would allow his son to go through that? Why did that have to happen for us to be forgiven of our sins? Why can’t God just forgive us if He really loves us?” They just don’t understand why it had to happen. But the main point that these folks are just not acknowledging is this……we don’t have to understand why God chose the plan that He chose for mankind. God doesn’t owe us an explanation as to why He unfolded His plan the way that He has. He’s God. He has every right to decide how He wants things to be. He knows what we need more than we know what we need. And…..what we all have to understand is that God is the creator and we are His creation. His ways and thoughts are far above our ways and thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9) Let’s think of it in simple terms. If I write a script to make a movie, then I am the creator of that script and movie. I have planned out how the movie is sequenced. I have chosen the characters. I have decided how the movie will end. Ok, let’s just say that an editor or producer comes along and changes everything that I worked so hard to create about my movie. That same editor or producer decides that they want to change the ending. Before long, the movie no longer even looks like the script that I wrote. Don’t you think that God feels this way when He looks down from above? He sees people trying to change His script every minute of every day! How dare anyone change God’s script! It was meant to be read and interpreted one way. It is truth. And since it is truth, then it can’t be changed or interpreted to suit everyone’s desires. We are all a part of God’s script as we spend our short time here on earth. Will we follow His script, the Bible, as we go through our lives or will we change the script to suit ourselves? I ask you, what is the alternative other than following the God of the universe? There are really only two choices. There is no middle ground, friends. We either follow God, which means we follow His Word, or we follow the world, and we know who the world belongs to…. Satan. Why would we want to turn away from the one who could end it all at any moment? Let’s dive in and look at this idea of why we are allowed to suffer. Is Satan behind our suffering or is God? Why does Paul say that he takes pleasure in suffering? And how in the world is he stronger in weakness?

So….why was Paul speaking this way about his suffering? What led up to this discussion? Let’s back up to the beginning of 2 Corinthians 12 and see the context of this conversation. In the first six verses of this chapter, Paul is telling the Christians at Corinth about a man being caught up into the third heaven. This third heaven that Paul is speaking of, according to everything I have read, is paradise, which is where God dwells. It turns out that the man who was caught up into the third heaven is Paul himself. Listen to 2 Corinthians 12:5, “Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.” Paul is saying that if it were anyone else besides himself who had this experience, then He would have boasted about that person’s revelation. However, because it was him who had this experience, he would not boast about it. He doesn’t want to exalt himself in any way. He says that if he is going to boast about anything, it would be about his infirmities. I know some may think, “well, he is boasting about the experience now”, but he is absolutely not boasting. 2 Corinthians 12:2 says that this experience of being shown the third heaven happened fourteen years ago. Don’t you think that he would have told someone before now if he had wanted to brag about the experience? And on a side note, let’s think about the self-control that it took for Paul to keep an experience like that to himself for 14 years! He patiently waited until just the right moment in time to disclose that experience to the Christians at Corinth. And even then, he only talked about it to make a point. If I ever had an experience like that. I can 100% tell you that I would have been itching to tell someone about it as quickly as I could! I think we can learn a lot about Paul’s character from how he handled that. Paul never wanted to appear arrogant or portray himself as anyone special just because he was an apostle. He simply wanted the message of Jesus to be spread for God’s glory, not his own. He didn’t want to do anything to take the attention away from Jesus and put it on him. And….he didn’t have to impress people with his experience of going to the third heaven to get their attention! He used the truth of Jesus Christ and salvation to get their attention. Listen to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” I don’t need to explain these words. I can’t paraphrase them any better than the apostle Paul could speak them. The message of Jesus was all that Paul was concerned about, and he didn’t want credit for any of it. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-14, Paul came down hard on the Christians at Corinth for being divided over who to follow, and trying to follow the messenger instead of the message. Then later in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” So let that be a lesson for all of us. It is not the preacher or teacher who gets the glory when a person is baptized. It is God. It is His message of mercy, compassion, hope, love, and salvation that gets the job done. Do we have some talented preachers and teachers? Yes we do! And I am so thankful for men who have the ability to stand before us in pulpits all across the world, and rightly divide the word of God so that we can all understand it more clearly. I am so thankful for my sisters who have the ability to teach ladies bible classes, teach teens and college-age ladies classes, teach babies and young children’s classes, speak at ladies days, do podcasts, write Bible study materials, and list goes on and on and on of things we can do for the Lord. Ladies….we can do so much within our role! But I am certain that any of these men and women will tell you that it is God’s word that is the difference maker in people’s lives, not them. They will tell you that they are only a vessel for the message of Jesus. God wants us to use our talents for His purpose, not for any personal glory. I write this blog because I love to write about God’s word, and I am hopeful that through God’s word my posts will encourage my sisters in Christ in their daily walks, or penetrate someone’s heart who is not a Christian. But that won’t be because of anything that I have done. Because it is God’s word that causes the words to come out of me and onto the paper. It’s His Word that makes me want to write. I have said this before, and I’ll say it again, if it wasn’t for God’s word, I would have nothing to write about. 

Everything in 2 Corinthians 12  leading up to verse 10 is setting the stage for a discussion about suffering. However…..we need to back up to 2 Corinthians 11 to get the big picture of what brought on the discussion of the third heaven, boasting and suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11:5 Paul makes this statement, “For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.” This statement tells us that the Corinthians must have thought that Paul was less of an apostle than the others. He then goes into a pretty lengthy spill about all the suffering and misfortune he had endured since becoming a Christian. (2 Corinthians 11:24-29)  So….was it Paul’s suffering that made the Christians at Corinth think that he was “inferior” to the other apostles? Yes! They were thinking, how could God let this terrible suffering happen to one of His apostles? He must be a weak apostle, right? This leads right into Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul says it’s not so bad to be weak! In weakness, Paul found strength. He was trying to get the Christians at Corinth to understand that it was in their weakest moments when they were actually at their best, because they were leaning fully on God in that moment. What about us? When are we truly at our best? What kind of strength do we desire? 

I am nowhere near finished discussing this verse and the context around it. In part 2, we will dig deeper into the suffering and infirmity of Paul, our suffering today, and God’s part in all of it. We will also attempt to answer the question, does suffering come from God or Satan or both?

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)