‘When…Weak…Then…Strong’

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.

II Corinthians 12:10b

Luke 2:52 outlines for us the four areas, or categories of life. It tells us, ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.’ We have, set before us, the physical, the mental, the spiritual, and the social. We naturally tend to rely on the areas in which we are most capable. If we are physically strong, we tend to rely upon our physical ability.  If we are intellectually capable, that tends to be the ability upon which we depend. If our personality is what carries us, we will rely on that. The spiritual does not come to any of us naturally. We naturally rely upon the first three. Only Christ and His influence can bring us to rely primarily upon the spiritual. In order to bring us to that, He must undermine our reliance upon the others. Hence, He ‘weakens’ us. If we rely upon the physical, He may give us an illness or permanent disability. If we rely upon the intellectual, He may show us our mental limitations in some specific way. He may give us some social anxiety to prevent us from relying upon our personality. In short, when we are ‘weak’ in these other areas, it paves the way for us to become ‘strong’ spiritually. So Christ did to Paul, and so He does to us. This permits us to ‘take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.’ When we are ‘weak’ then we become ‘strong.’

Our most Holy and Wise God,
we praise You, that You very kindly weaken us.
We rejoice that by this process, You enable us,
to grow less dependent upon ourselves,
and more thoroughly dependent upon You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Pleasure In Infirmities

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.

II Corinthians 12:10

Paul is working toward a summary of this discussion regarding his ‘thorn in the flesh.’ He will eventually land at, ‘When I am weak, then I am strong.’ Before he arrives at that conclusion, he makes what we would consider to be a totally unnatural remark. He says, ‘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.’ We do not naturally ‘take pleasure’ in ‘infirmities…in needs…in persecutions…in distresses.’ That is the result, not of human will or ability, but of the ‘sufficient Grace of Christ.’  Only Christ can enable us to ‘take pleasure’ in all the most difficult aspects of the Christian experience. Having said that, only Christ can lead us to the conclusion that, ‘when I am weak, then I am strong.’ Christ enables us to understand that the less we rely upon our own intellect, skill, personality, education, pedigree, or any other human quality, the more we rely upon Christ and the strength which He supplies. Physical, mental, and emotional weakness opens the door for spiritual strength. Christ then receives the glory for every accomplishment. We do not end with monuments to man, but with the magnification of Christ. This makes these ‘infirmities,’ and all the other difficulties something in which we can ‘take pleasure,’ ‘for when I am weak, then I am strong.’

Our most Good and Gracious God,
we rejoice that even our infirmities come from You.
We praise You, that You enable us, to take pleasure in them.
To the praise of Your Eternal Glory.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘The Power of Christ…Upon 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.

II Corinthians 12:9d

Who will get the credit in my life? Paul understood that it must be Christ. If we review what we have considered thus far, we realize that Paul was a person of strong spiritual experience. In fact, he goes so far as to say, in the verses preceding our text, that God had given him his ‘thorn in the flesh’ in order that he might not be ‘exalted above measure,’ because of the abundance of the revelations which he had received. Once he came to terms with the fact that this ‘thorn in the flesh’ was not going away, he had to seek to comprehend how exactly this was going to fit into the larger scheme of things.  Christ declared to him, regarding that ‘thorn in the flesh,’ ‘My Grace is sufficient for you.’ The weaker Paul looked, the greater Christ looked. The Corinthians had said of Paul, ‘…his letters…are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’  Paul did not have much ‘presence’ and apparently was not an impressive speaker. Add infirmities to that, and he had very little to commend him. Therefore, Christ got the credit for his ministry. Paul understood that for him to ‘boast’ in his ‘infirmities,’ would result in the conclusion that ‘the power of Christ’ rested upon him. Hence Christ got the credit. So it is with us. We are weak, frail, and full of infirmities. If God uses us for the advancement of His Kingdom, He will get the credit for it, as well He should.

Our most Gracious, Enabling Christ,
We praise You, that You empower us
to accomplish all that we could never do apart from You.
You are the Vine, we are the branches,
And so must it ever be.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Not The Answer I Wanted

‘And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness…”’

II Corinthians 12:9a

We bring many requests to God in prayer. We have sound theology. We know that He hears us for Jesus’ Sake. We know that the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us. We have had signal answers to prayer in the past. We have prayed earnestly and fervently and been satisfied to see the mountain’s move. Paul was a prayer warrior. He sought the Lord and received powerful answers to prayer. In our text for today, we find that Christ gives Paul an answer that Paul did not really want. Paul was describing his ‘thorn in the flesh.’ He considered it a ‘messenger of Satan.’ Paul prayed three times for Christ, His Beloved Savior to remove this ‘thorn.’ Our text is the only direct statement from the mouth of Christ in the entire book of II Corinthians. He says to Paul, ‘My Grace is sufficient for you.’ We may come to consider the remainder of what He says in due course of time. For the moment, let us consider this answer to Paul. Here is the plain fact. For our greater good; for His Greater Glory; for our deepening spiritually; for our maturing fully, Christ does not remove some of the things that pain us most, but gives us His Grace as that which is sufficient for us. This may be a hard pill to swallow. We know what we want, but He knows what we need. Perhaps, dear reader, you have been praying fervently for the change of some circumstance, and Christ is answering you today with these words ‘My Grace is sufficient for you.’ Paul trusted Christ in his affliction. Can you trust Him in yours?

Our Kind and Blessed Savior,
We praise You, that You ‘perform the thing that is appointed for us.’
we rejoice that You will provide for us sufficient grace,
to enable us to endure all our God-appointed trials.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning