When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong

I don't think of Paul as having been a weak man.

I think of him more as a man's-man. In my mind I don't see soft hands and paunchy middle. I picture calluses and scars, muscle and sinew, weathered skin and piercing eyes.

After being stoned nearly to death and dragged out of the city to die, he woke up and walked right back into the city in which he had been stoned. When shipwrecked, it was Paul who gathered wood for the fire (and shook off the venomous snake that bit him). When confronted, he pushed back. When beaten, he took it like a man. When threatened, he forged ahead.

The last verse of the book of Acts sums up Paul's life like this: Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was tough, hard-core. In his words, and his actions.

Paul did, however, have weaknesses. He said so himself.

In his second letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 12, Paul talks about the thorn in his side which he asked God to take away. God chose not to, instead replying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

Paul then tells the Corinthians that is why he boasts not about his strengths, but rather his weaknesses. He understood the message the Lord gave him, and he passed it down to us.

When I am weak, then I am strong.

We all have weaknesses.

It may be money, booze, or women. Or the less obvious personal insecurities, fears, hangups. Physical, mental, spiritual. Lack of strength, abundance of pride, or need of a swift kick in the butt.

Weaknesses. We've all got 'em.

It is in our weaknesses, according to God's very Word, that His strength is made perfect.

Say what?

Wouldn't God be better served by having nothing but the very best, the most nearly perfect, the strongest and fittest, smartest and wisest, most handsome and beautiful people working for Him?

Nope.

For one, there's nobody out there that meets those criteria. And two, if there were, they'd get hung up on their own pride, and then . . . well, I guess we're back where we started. Everybody's got weaknesses.

That's where God comes in.

God does what we cannot.

I don't know what Paul's weaknesses were, but he did. Instead of denying them, trying to cover them up, he gave them over to God. He said, "Hey God, I can't do this because of my . . . you know . . . thorn in the side thing. You're going to have to do it for me."

And God did.

He will also do the same for us. When we admit our weaknesses, God steps in and fills the gap. He provides the strength we lack, the courage we desire. The brains, the brawn, the words, the whatever--He's got it when we do not. More than that, He's willing to give it to us when we need it most.

That's what Paul understood. That's what I need to understand.

When I am weak, then I am strong.

In Christ, through Christ, for Christ.