What do you do when you feel weak? What do you do when you need strength that you don’t have? How can you find the strength to overcome a weakness in your flesh? What do you do about these little areas in your life that bring you to your knees? Weakness & Strength!

2 Corinthians 12:7 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”

Paul had seen all of these visions, including seeing and speaking to Jesus, Himself. It must have been wonderful to have been blessed like this. But then we come to these words in the next sentences about a thorn in the flesh and a messenger of Satan to torment him. What is all of this about?

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 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 difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong”

Somehow Paul understood that weakness made him strong. Weakness in our culture is not a good thing. A lot of people look down on weakness like a sickness. Paul learned to boast in his weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on him. It took me a long time to understand this. When I was a teenager I thought I was invincible. I was in the process of buying a motorcycle one afternoon, when I had a wreck on my test drive. I had ridden for years and I was really happy about getting a new bike. I never made it back from that test drive and to make matters worse, I stopped by and picked up my sister to go with me. A few minutes later, we were in the ambulance on our way to the hospital. Miraculously, my sister was okay and I would spend 13 days in the hospital with a broken knee. It was as if the angels picked us up and placed us down on the roadway. Invincible, not in the least. I learned that day how precious and fleeting this life really is. The accident was bad, but now as I look back on it, I can see that it was truly a blessing. That was a huge turning point in my life and my relationship with Jesus Christ. I don’t know what would have happened had I not experienced that.

The focus of my life changed. What would have happened if that would have been my last day on earth? Did I finish everything I was supposed to finish or was there more? Did I let my loved ones know that I loved them? Did they really know how I felt? I felt like I was given a second chance. I was engaged to be married at the time and that fell apart quickly. I spent a lot of time and years searching after this. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been totally worth it. I understand the scriptures more and more as I walk them out.

I read the words of Paul in Philippians 3:10-11 “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” I had heard a lot of people ask to know the power of His resurrection, but I didn’t hear anyone ask for the rest of the passage. I thought, “how can we know the power of His resurrection without fellowshipping in His sufferings first?”

I became determined to know the fellowship of His sufferings. I wanted understanding. Proverbs say that understanding costs us everything. We are told so much about prosperity these days. The power of His resurrection seems like a glorious place to be. However, a greater journey is the experience to understanding what His love is all about. What did He experience? How can I know except I touch it too? How can I know what my brothers and sisters are experiencing unless I touch them also? With understanding I found that I developed more patience. With more patience, I became more gentle. It became much easier to give others the benefit of the doubt before passing judgment. Have I attained it? No! However, I am a lot closer.

No matter what you have been through, don’t quit. Let these areas of weakness become places of God’s strength. Let Him shine through you and let others touch Him through you. Only through brokenness can His light shine through. If we keep bandaging and covering up the holes, His light can’t be seen. Let us be weak and let Him be strong. Glory!

I pray that you find His strength to guide you through this path. May you rest in His love, grace and mercy and come to peace. These weak places will become pillars of strength if you let them. Humble yourself and let Him lift you up with His resurrection power. You will never be the same.

Joseph