Strong by His grace and power

Carina Francke

2 Corinthians 12:7-10: "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger from Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.  Concerning this I pleaded with The Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Three things we can learn from this portion of Scripture:

Firstly, God answers Paul's prayer........with a no. But this does not leave him in sackcloth and ashes. Instead he realizes that "the thorn in the flesh" that afflicts him is a reminder that the Lord is involved in his life, and that he should stay dependent of Him. He has to understand that endurance and godly revelations given to man cannot be ascribed to his abilities, power or commitment, but that it is God who works in man.

Paul received a second revelation by this "No": the victorious grace of God is at work in his life. The "thorn" is not his focus anymore but rather the grace working in his own life. This kind of grace assures him that he lives in the blessings and favor of the Lord,  without him having to earn it. This life of grace drills open a bubbling spring of joy in him that enables him to rejoice in his  infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions and distresses, for Christ's sake.

Lastly, Paul discovers that he, as a weak human being, is the bearer of God's power because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in him. The things he excels in, as well as his  endurance of infirmities, needs, and other things that might come his way, are only possible because God's strength is working in and through him. He is, after all, only an earthen vessel that breaks easily.  His weakness  brings on the visible working of God's full, generating and exploding (dunamis) power in his life. And to him this is reason enough to rejoice exceedingly.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, remind me that Your grace can produce abundant joy in my life. In my weak days I so often forget that I am actually at my strongest because Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. You are truly the one and only God! Amen.