The Lord is quoted as saying, “My ways are not your ways.” And My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” This quote rings true as we look at 2 Corinthians 12. Paul answers the question in this chapter of, what is the best way to experience God’s power?
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Have you ever met someone who has had an extraordinary experience with the Lord? I have met many people like that. One of them really sticks out in my mind. This man was raised in the occult.
He became possessed by multiple demons. And was in line to be the guru or leader of the cult he belonged to. He was exposed to Christianity and was toying with the idea of leaving the cult. The demons tried to get him to kill himself.
God intervened, he was delivered from the demonic possession, and this man got dramatically saved. We met him soon after his salvation experience. He had a great testimony. We were traveling evangelists at the time and didn’t see him after that for a few months.
When we caught up with him again we found out that he had started to exaggerate his story. His wife was concerned because he was doing more boasting than humbly sharing how God had changed his life.
God’s Best will Surprise Us
In our chapter for today, Paul talks about an extraordinary vision that God had revealed to him. He said in the first verse, I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. In verse 5 he said that his experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it.
In verse 7 he continues by changing directions on the subject. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
In verse 8 Paul said, Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. That is when we get to the verse I chose for today which contains God’s answer. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
Here is Paul’s response to the Lord’s answer, So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Wow, that kind of pulls the rug out from under us, doesn’t it? Weaknesses? They are things we not only don’t want to talk about, but we don’t want to admit they exist.
The world’s view is to bask in our strengths. Then do what we can to strengthen and improve our weaknesses. If we can’t do that, we must hide our weaknesses from others. The Lord says in this verse, though, that He can do much more in us through our weakness.
By human standards, if you appear too weak, you will be written off as a weakling. Employers hire people for their strengths. Churches hire pastors for their strengths. But the Lord says that weak is good.
The Best Way To Experience God’s Power
Let me take a stab at what this might look like. I do have strengths. I have abilities and talents. These are things that God has blessed me with. They aren’t things that I have come up with on my own.
Even though God has equipped me with these things, I still have to work at them. I must develop them to make them better and more effective for the Lord. When I try to do things in my strength, I will eventually fall on my face.
But if I take my weaknesses to the Lord, He says, “My grace will sufficiently get the job done.” He goes on to say, “When you let my grace cover you, My power will be made perfect in you.” This can only happen when we turn ourselves and our weaknesses over to Him.
Checkout this related post called Do You Want God’s Unlimited Resources To Empower You?
I don’t know about you, but I would rather have God’s strength in my weakness any day than to have my strength alone without God’s grace and power.
You might be interested in read more about God’s Grace in a post with that title. Also check out this post as well. What Happens When God’s Unfailing Love Meets Our Weakness?
Check out these other related posts about the power of God
- It’s Exciting To Believe God For The Unbelievable
- Do You Want God’s Unlimited Resources To Empower You?
- He Gives Power To The Weak
Lord, help us to understand the concept of what Paul says of when I am weak, then I am strong. We need your strength when we humbly admit our weaknesses, so we can be perfect in your power.
You would enjoy reading the cornerstone post on discipleship called How To Be An Effective Devoted Disciple Of Jesus.
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Very true. As I get older, my weaknesses become more apparent, and they are embarrassing, mostly. I’m carrying a heavy purse, on my arm and I can’t find it anywhere. When I ask anyone if they’ve seen it, of course they have, and their compassionate expressions tell me what they think. I’ve never once said, “Thank you, Lord for allowing me to look like a fool.” And I have no idea how He uses that. It does keep me humble, though.
I chuckled as I read your comment. When things like that happen to us, I think you hit the nail on the head. It does keep us humble.