weakness vs strength

2 Corinthians 12

7b 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.
  

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

9 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.

10 That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses,

and in the insults,

hardships,

persecutions,

and troubles that I suffer for Christ.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The exact nature of what Paul considered his “thorn in the flesh” isn't known.

I googled it & found a number of opinions from an illness to people who persecuted him.

I'm not sure the nature of it is the important thing.

The important thing is, whatever is was, God said that His grace was all Paul needed in the situation.

iow, whatever it was, God was going to sustain Paul through it.

God basically said to Paul that since there wasn't anything Paul could do, Paul would have to totally rely on God in the situation.

And God told Paul that the strength God would send Paul to handle it would be unimpeded by Paul, who was too weak in the situation to handle it.

We're into power.

We're also in to being self-sufficient.

But in this situation, Paul's situation was an opportunity for God to demonstrate Who was in control, & Who was the one Who made Paul equal to the task of dealing with this “thorn.”

Paul goes on to say that he had learned that when he was weak – iow, when he couldn't handle a situation on his own power – God was able to work more easily & efficiently.

What does this have to say to us?

I think it tells us that in every situation, whether we're able to handle it or not, God is the One who gives us the ability to face it.

And when we seem the weakest, the least powerful & capable, that is exactly when God steps in an imbues us with the power & sufficiency for the moment & task.

iow, God has our back, & gives us the power to be & do whatever it is He was us to be & do.

Think about that today, & how we might apply that to day to day situations...