Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, "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. For 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 Cor 12:8-10)Paul lays out a key concept here that affects every aspect of our lives. It is the simple and straightforward statement that "My grace is sufficient for you." If that was a period ... dead stop ... it would be enough. His grace is sufficient. End of story. Stop worrying about it. But He didn't stop there. Christ went on to say, "My power is made perfect in weakness." Do you hear that? His power is perfected in ... you ... your weaknesses, your shortcomings, your inabilities and failures. Our weaknesses remove the illusion of our own sufficiency. I coined my own phrase, "delusions of adequacy," because we all suffer from the lie that we are capable. We're not. Our weakness demonstrates relentlessly our need for and dependence on God. That "made perfect" is literally "to finish, to carry out into full operation." In our weakness God's power can be put on full display. It's like when Paul wrote, "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble ..." (1 Cor 1:26-27). It's God's "I don't need your help; I've got this."
Notice, though, one more vital thing. Paul could acknowledge Christ's words. He could nod and say, "Okay, I'll accept that." But ... he didn't. He ... embraced it. He "boasted" in it. In fact, he boldly declared, "I am content with" all these weaknesses. Not, "I'm content in spite of them." No. He was carrying out his own claim that "we also exult in our tribulations" (Rom 5:3), that "in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him" (Rom 8:37). He found victory in weakness. He didn't just accept it. He said, "When I am weak, then I am strong." Are you? He doesn't say, "When I am weak, then He is strong." No ... Paul found strength in his own weakness because he absolutely depended on God's grace. What about you? Is God's grace sufficient for you? Is He your only hope?
I prefer better, but if this is all I get, I can deal because of Him. HE is indeed sufficient. What more do I need?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to Paul’s need for God’s sufficiency to supplement his own. Personally, I am in the season of life where I find my former strengths and abilities diminishing ever so subtly but surely. I hold very few "delusions of adequacy" these days! (My newly retired husband and I joke that between the two of us, we thank the Lord for one good working mind and body.) On one hand, this decline can be distressing, but on the other hand, the situation causes me to turn to God more consistently for His help and enabling. I believe that Paul was drawing upon the indwelling Holy Spirit--“the power of Christ”--and finding strength in his weakness as the Lord answered prayer and supernaturally enabled Paul to accomplish the vital work that he did. Whereas in the previous chapter of Romans, Paul was lamenting his overwhelming wretchedness as he struggled with his inherent sin nature, in chapter 8 he extols “life in the Spirit” as “conquerors through Christ” (as my Bible headings summarize those pages). I think that the longer we walk with the Lord, the greater our awareness of our personal weaknesses; this encourages an ever-expanding dependency upon God, so that I can indeed boast that I am less competent than I might think, but He is more sufficient than I ever realized. “When I am weak, then I am strong”--only in Him and to His glory!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure you meant it this way, but you wrote, "Paul's need for God's sufficiency to supplement his own." I don't think Paul would agree with that statement. It isn't that Paul had some sufficiency and God made it better (supplements are additives to something already present). It's that Paul was utterly insufficient and was only made sufficient through the work of Christ in his life. Just wanted to clarify.
DeleteIn that phrase, I was not necessarily thinking about Paul’s spiritual condition, which would be insufficient in his own strength, as you say. Since Stan mentioned Paul’s possible physical issues, which made him “weak,” and in the quoted passage, Paul included that “weakness” with various hardships he was enduring with “contentment,” one could say that Paul was “down but not out” (again, not thinking of spiritual merits here). God’s strength to Paul would be a supplement in that it added to, boosted, and increased his low level of strength, raising it to a high and sufficient level.
DeleteDavid, I am hoping that I clarified in a satisfactory manner how I meant the phrase you questioned. As you know, I would not want to say anything unbiblical at this blog. Of course I am clear that Paul--like all of us are--was “utterly insufficient,” as you say, to please the Lord in and of himself or by his efforts done in the flesh. I also did not mean to trivialize Paul’s spiritual struggles and physical hardships (which were vast) by comparing them to the minor issues I might experience. I was simply thinking past the obvious reality of my great need for God’s love and forgiveness to a practical application of “when I am weak, I am strong,” i.e. when I depend upon God’s strength in my daily life. Just to clarify.
DeleteMight this also be an answer for the problem of evil? God's power and grace and mercy and justice are displayed by His overcoming our weakness created by our wickedness.
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