The Weakness Paradox

“Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me, so I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ … So, because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 CSB)

This is one of the great paradoxes of the Bible. Another one goes like this, “He who seeks to save his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” That puzzles many, and this one from Paul is also somewhat puzzling to the world because it is not what they expect. The world’s view says that weakness is just that – weakness, and many are looking for strength. This paradox says that you can find real strength in weakness. It is a truth that by normal reasoning would seem to not be true, but the Bible says it is.

The reason this is true is that our weakness gives God the opportunity to display His power and strength. Weakness is revealed when we go through problems and struggles we are unable to control or resolve on our own. Paul identifies some of them he experienced: insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and pressures. Then, there are the “thorns in the flesh,” some sort of physical limitation from Satan that God allows only so that His grace may be displayed.

The world sees the ideal as someone being in total control of every aspect of his or her life and able to affect or influence positive outcomes with events or problems that come. Real life is just not that way, though. Sooner or later problems come that someone cannot resolve or control or impact, and that is when the sun rises and the fog lifts to show our true human condition. Weakness, however, is not a cause for despair. The good news is that it is our opportunity to see God’s grace at work, to see His power revealed.

Father, We pray that in this day Your grace and power will be displayed clearly in our weakness. Amen.