Weakness, Power, and Grace (2 Corinthians 12:9 [10])

..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [¹⁰For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.] —2 Corinthians 12:9 [10])

2 Corinthians 12:1-8 provides the context for this week’s passage. Here Paul says that he suffered a “thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” What would cause him conceit? He had been given “visions and revelations of the Lord,” and was “caught up to the third heaven—into the third paradise—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” (vv. 1-4). Though we

never discover what the thorn was, we know it was God's will for Paul to endure it.

Paul's "thorn" was painful enough to cause him—a man who was beaten, stoned, whipped, and imprisoned for the sake of the gospel—to plead with God to remove it. Many people have speculated ways the thorn may have manifested itself in Paul’s body, but God has not told us. We do know that in calling his affliction a thorn—Paul was referring to something persistent and painful that harassed him and was difficult to ignore. Instead of removing the thorn, God gave Paul something greater.

God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” What comforting words from our omniscient God. They point to joy in suffering and peace beyond our ability to understand. This grace comes from God in a flow of super-abundant sufficiency in our suffering so that the power of Christ (in Greek dunamis, glorious inherent power) will be displayed in us when we are at our weakest.

We can count on God's promised sustaining grace to give us peace and cause us to trust Him. Christ’s power will be perfected in us and will even give us contentment as we bear up under weaknesses of all kinds. May those of us who are in Christ Jesus gladly boast in our weaknesses so that His power may rest on us. It is for the sake of Christ—for His Kingdom and His name—that we suffer, and are even made content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. We are a living testimony of His grace, power, and strength.

As Samuel Rutherford's hymn, “Immanuel's Land,” shows, the thorns of life are fitting us for heaven:

Deep waters crossed life’s pathway,

The hedge of thorns was sharp;

Now these lie all behind me—

Oh! For a well-tuned harp!

Oh, to join Hallelujah

With yon triumphant band,

Who sing, where glory dwelleth,

In Immanuel’s land.

Soon shall the cup of glory

Wash down earth’s bitterest woes,

Soon shall the desert-briar

Break into Eden’s rose:

The curse shall change to blessing—

The name on earth that’s banned,

Be graven on the white stone

In Immanuel’s land.

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For Reflection

1. Sometimes our weakness is obvious in illness or physical disability, but other times it is hidden weakness of heart, soul, and mind. Where are you weak? How has God, who is all-seeing and ever-faithful, comforted you in your weakness?

2. In what ways does God’s grace strengthen you in your suffering? What is the practical impact in your life of having the power of Christ resting on you?

3. God’s power is made perfect in your weakness—how might you share the powerful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with others who are also suffering?