How Am I Stronger in Weakness?

Part 2

Key Verse  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.”         

In my last post, I began to try to understand why Paul made the statement that he made in the verse above. Why does he take pleasure in all those things that cause him to suffer? He actually answers that question in the verse. He takes pleasure in his suffering “for Christ’s sake”. So… because he is suffering for the cause of spreading the gospel of Christ, he takes pleasure in his suffering. Wow. When I really think about that statement by Paul, it nearly brings me to my knees. I wish that I could be more like Paul and find joy in bad situations. I’m trying, but I am a work in progress in this area as well as lots of other areas in my life. You know, Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit directly to preach and write exactly what God wanted him to preach and write about. But aren’t we inspired by the Holy Spirit today? Well, that is, we are inspired if we allow ourselves to be. We are not directly inspired in the same way that Paul was inspired, but we have the Holy Spirit. God’s word is the Holy Spirit, therefore we have the same inspiration and comfort that Paul had. But are we letting the Holy Spirit inspire and comfort us? I realized way too late in life that I wasn’t letting God speak to me through His Word (the Holy Spirit) enough. I was praying for God to help me, but how can He help me if I don’t listen to Him. I was also going to Bible study and worship services regularly, but that wasn’t enough. I needed my spiritual food every day. I needed personal Bible study….a special time set aside for myself and my God. How does this relate to suffering, you ask? Well … .let’s just think about this logically. Let’s just say that I am suffering in some way, and I beg God to take my suffering away. But my suffering continues. Maybe it even gets worse. If I am in God’s word and letting His word soothe me and comfort me, then I will grow closer to God through that suffering. Turning to God cannot be one-sided. It includes not only praying to God, but listening to Him as well. However, if I don’t get in God’s word during times of suffering, then I have nothing to comfort me. This opens the door for Satan and discouragement.  I may be praying to God for help and relief, but how can He help me deal with my suffering and my problems if I’m not listening to Him. Have you ever heard of a one-sided conversation? This is what we have when we pray to God, but we don’t open our Bibles and listen to Him. So if you are suffering in some way, open God’s word. Look up scriptures to encourage you. Pray through those scriptures. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again….put your name in the scriptures that you are praying through, and make them personal to you, because, my friends…..it is personal. God wants to get personal with us, but He can’t if He isn’t given the opportunity. So talk to God every day, and read, study, or listen to His word at some point every day. Set aside that special time for just you and Him. That is what God wants from all of us. 

Believe it or not, our suffering has a purpose. It has a purpose for God and for Satan. Satan tries to use our suffering against us, to torment us and possibly cause us to blame and abandon God. Let’s think about Job for a moment. Satan tried every way in the world to get Job to turn away from God, but Job never did. Satan even used Job’s own wife against him when she said, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”.(Job 2:9) But let’s never forget that Job’s wife was also suffering beyond our imagination. Job’s wife deserves a post of her own, because she has gotten a bad rep, in my opinion. I haven’t been through anything compared to what Job went through, or what his wife went through along with him, but I have been through my own troubles as we all have. Job’s story, just like everything in the Bible, is there for us to learn from. That was the purpose for Job’s suffering. His situation shows us that no matter what happens to us, we can overcome it. Do you think Job grew closer to God through His suffering? Read the book of Job and you will see that Job and God had a very close relationship while Job was going through all this terrible stuff. And the relationship was brutally honest. Job told God exactly how he was feeling, but…..he never turned away from God. Listen to Job’s words in Job 7:11, Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” Job was not going to hold back. He didn’t understand why all these things had happened to him. We don’t have to hold back either. We are allowed to tell God how we are feeling. We can be honest with God about our feelings. It doesn’t mean that we are turning against Him. It will actually draw us closer to Him. He wants us to come to Him. And that, oftentimes, is how God uses our suffering…..to be closer to us. I had a very dear friend who has since passed away from cancer say something very profound to me once. She told me this….. “Maybe it took me getting sick to bring me to God the way I’m supposed to be”. I will never forget that statement by my sister in Christ and dear friend. Wow. What bravery. What strength. Now are we seeing the meaning of the “when I am weak, then I am strong” statement by Paul?

So……let’s go back to Paul’s suffering. Paul suffered from a “thorn in the flesh”. Let’s look at the verses leading up to our key verse, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)  This “thorn” that Paul had was a physical disease or sickness. Paul calls this “thorn” a “messenger of Satan” to “buffet” or harass or torment him. You see ….that is what Satan’s purpose for our suffering is….a way to torment and even torture us into destroying ourselves by becoming bitter, blaming God, and eventually turn away from God. Whatever the infirmity was though, it was bad enough that Paul prayed three times for God to remove it, but God did not remove it.  It is possible that the “thorn” was an eye disease from all that I have read. I can’t say this for sure, but it is a possibility. In Galatians 4:13 Paul says this, “You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.”  The whole “pluck out their eyes to give them to Paul” statement implies that he had eye problems when he preached to the Galatian Christians the first time. And, according to other scriptures, Paul had more than one infirmity. 1 Timothy 5:23 says this, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake, and your frequent infirmities.”  The wine, of course, was to be used as a medicine for physical infirmities, not for pleasure. I can say one thing for sure. Paul’s infirmity was not any kind of sin that tempted Paul. I’ve read some articles from some outside the church that try to claim that Paul’s “thorn” was some form of sin that he struggled with. The context of the verse does not support this and neither do other references to Paul’s infirmities. I believe some want to try to make this claim in order to justify sin. They want to say that God accepts sin by implying that God accepted Paul with his “thorn” or sin, especially since He didn’t take the “thorn” away after Paul prayed three times for it to be removed. This theory is simply not supported in any way. I’m just letting you all know the kind of false teaching that is out there about the apostle Paul. Can a temptation or sin be our “thorn in the flesh”? Absolutely. But we can’t keep living in that sin. We have to resist the temptation to commit that sin. Romans 6:12-13 tells us not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies and not to present our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but to present our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God. Paul himself said these words to the Christians in Rome. 

So what was God’s purpose for allowing Paul to keep his “thorn in the flesh”? To understand God’s reason, we have to go back to part one of this post where we discussed Paul’s trip to the third heaven. During this trip, God revealed “inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” to Paul. (2 Corinthians 12:4)  Paul was allowed to keep this “thorn in the flesh” so that he would not grow conceited because of the revelations that he had been given during that trip to Paradise. Wasn’t Paul the picture of humility in his walk with Christ? Well…..this was God’s purpose. God wanted Paul to remain humble. And Paul was thankful that God allowed him to keep the infirmities. Paul knew that God knew what was best for him spiritually and that was all that mattered to Paul. The infirmities made Paul a stronger vessel for Christ. What about us? Don’t we all have a “thorn in the flesh”? We all have infirmities/weaknesses/sicknesses of one kind or another, whether it be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. The worst kind of sickness is spiritual sickness, because that type of sickness deals with our eternal soul. The other three forms of infirmities are only temporary. Let’s remember God’s servant, Job and the apostle Paul when we go through problems in our lives. If we are right spiritually, then we can handle whatever this life throws at us. It may be the most excruciating pain we could ever imagine, but with God by our sides, we will make it through.  

On a personal note, I went through a period of time where I was suffering mentally and emotionally in a bad way. Depression and anxiety were overtaking me. I won’t go into details, but it was worse than any physical suffering that I had ever experienced. It was hard for me to get out of bed in the morning. I had to make myself eat. It was hard for me to put one foot in front of the other one. Everything that I had to do was so hard. The simplest things were difficult. My responsibilities as a wife, a mom, a daughter, and a teacher did not stop. I had to just keep going. The only way that I was able to get through it was through God’s word and prayer. I found verses that helped me get through it. I journaled through Bible verses and wrote out my prayers. Even going to the grocery store was hard. I had Bible verses bookmarked on my phone so that I could stop and pull them up on my phone while in the grocery store. I had to pray through verses to go get groceries, friends! It was a rough time. And I know that there are many of you that have been through something similar. Many of you have been through much worse, and you may still be going through some really hard times. I’m just sharing mine with you so that you know that you are not alone. During this time in my life, I had a wonderful support system. My sweet husband and children were wonderful. I had some close friends who were always there for me. All of these people helped me along the way, but it was God who truly got me through it. I had to truly lay it all at His feet. The two-way conversation of praying to Him and listening to Him through His Word is what saved me. I am thankful for that time though! That time in my life taught me how to truly lean on God. It brought me close to Him in a way that I had never been before. Like Jesus said to Paul 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” His grace is sufficient for me and for you. His strength is made perfect by our weakness. 

What about the suffering of Jesus on the cross? Was it from Satan or God? Well it was Satan who caused wicked men to put Christ to death. It was Satan who tried to destroy Christ. It is Satan who continues to try to destroy us. But…..it has always been God who prevailed from the beginning. It was God’s plan from the beginning all along to send Christ to be our Savior. It was God’s plan from before time began to use the horrible death of His Son for something good. In Romans 8:28, the apostle Paul, says these words,  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” All things, including suffering, work together for good, my sisters in Christ. Why? Because we love God and we are “the called” according to His purpose. I hope this post encourages you to never, ever give up. Keep fighting the good fight, stay on the right course, and finish the race. (1 Timothy 4:7) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead! Love you all!! 

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)