I am trying to think about these words of Apostle Paul today. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
The journey of life for sure has different times. Times when I am joyful and my heart rests in the joy of the Lord and I am fully aware that God is in control. But there are times when I forget that God reigns over my life and sort of lose purpose and meaning. When Paul says “weakness”, I am thinking about these times where my inner being doesn’t truly rest in God and when I feel weak in spirit.
There are 4 times in verses 9 and 10 Paul repeats the word weak - Maybe he is really in a very weak situation. The thing that surprises me the most in this verse is “boasting about my weaknesses”. This is not something very common. One can boast when he has some strengths and he want to talk about how great he is because of this strength that he possess. “Boasting in weakness” is a paradoxical statement. For instance, if I feel so insecure, not confident, nervous - I would rather choose to hide them, instead of choosing to reveal them to others. But Paul goes a step higher - he wants to boast that he has many weak things in him. By doing so his goal is for God to take over him.
Holy Spirit works in a persons heart when he is truly humble and willing to accept who he/she is in front of God. Satan is a deceiver always lies and try his best to deceive people and make them believe that they are “something” when they are not. (2 Corinthians 11:12-15)
When I deny my true self, Satan takes control of me. When I admit and accept who I am in front of God, Holy spirit takes control of me.
Paul’s goal of boasting about his weakness is not just for others to know about it and feel sorry for him but his goal is for by doing so the power of God would cover his weakness and reveal the strength of God in him.
Amen
NEXT (2 Corinthians 12: 10)
