2 Corinthians 12:9
Joke: A job applicant was asked, “What would you consider to be your main strengths and weaknesses?”
“Well,” he began, “my main weakness would definitely be my issues with reality. Sometimes I have a little trouble telling what’s real and what’s not.”
“Okay,” said the interviewer. “And what are your strengths?”
“I’m Batman.”
Intro: Weakness. It’s something we try so hard to avoid, something we try so hard to overcome, conquer or ignore. And yet for all of our efforts to be strong; to be perfected, we are only to conclude that the closer we get, the longer the journey becomes. Weakness never really goes away and often when it does, it is only to give life to a new weakness.
Now society is full of self-help solutions. The voices of this world will tell us to focus on our strengths, or that if we are determined and ambitious enough, we can overcome our weaknesses. But the fact of the matter is that the world so fears weakness that it is even willing to oppress and kill the weak. Those who fail to meet the ideals of what this world defines as strength are typically cast aside.
Now I’m not denying that this world has compassion. I firmly believe that everyone on earth recognizes the need for a savior. We just seem to differ in what our understanding of a savior is and in who our understanding of the Savior is.
But what if I told you that the very things we despise about ourselves may actually be our greatest weapon?
Illustration: There was a ten-year-old boy who decided to study judo, despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.
“Master,” the boy finally said, “shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”
“I realize that this is the only move you know, but this may be the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the master replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the master took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged. The boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy made the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the master intervened.
“No,” the master insisted. “Let him continue.”
As soon as the match resumed, his opponent rushed in on him. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy won the match and the tournament. He was now the champion.
On the way home, the boy and master reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.
“Master, how could I possibly have won that tournament with only one move?”
The master turned to the boy and answered, “You won for two reasons. First, you have been able to master the most difficult throw in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move that you have mastered is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
(By Robert Vogel)
(1 Corinthians 1:27) …God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
Let’s face it, if we were to pool our collective stories together we would likely find crippling accounts of weakness: health issues, physical or emotional defects, abuse, violence, alcoholism, porn addictions, divorces, injustices, anger, bitterness and pain. The scars we bare would likely begin to sting again as we revealed tales of betrayal, loved ones letting us down, friends leaving, loneliness, frustration & rejection.
Like the Island of Misfit Toys, we can all relate to what it means to fall short somewhere in life; whether it’s in the eyes of others or ourselves, or by the standard of God’s word. Even the most put together person you can imagine has a weakness. Truthfully we’ve all been hurt. Some of us are just more honest about it. What it amounts to is that no one is perfect and that’s ok……for now.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul observed this as he pondered his own standing in relationship to his peers, in the eyes of his audience, and in his relationship with Jesus Christ.
(2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NASB) "1 Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-- 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. 5 On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. 6 For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
1. Reason to Boast
The Health & Fitness section of the Wall Street Journal recently published that in what was joked to be “A Penny For Your Thoughts Study” conducted by Harvard University revealed that “about 40% of everyday speech is devoted to telling others about what we feel or think.”
The study elaborated that “Talking about ourselves—whether in a personal conversation or through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter—triggers the same sensation of pleasure in the brain as food or money.”
In fact, despite financial incentive to talk about others, many willingly declined up to 25% of their potential earnings to keep the discussion centered on themselves.
It went on to conclude: “Generally, acts of self-disclosure were accompanied by spurts of heightened activity in brain regions belonging to the meso-limbic dopamine system, which is associated with the sense of reward and satisfaction from food, money or sex.”
Sadly, what this points to a culture that boasts in being self-sufficient, either by their words or by their actions, that desires to live apart from Jesus Christ, is still desperate to belong, to be heard, and to be accepted.
And the reason for that desperation is that God has placed within each person the need to worship and belong. It is a need that only God can satisfy within us.
Paul addresses this directly when he declares "1 Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-- 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. 5 On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses.”
When I first read this I thought Paul was speaking of another man in regards to this vision, but thru further study discovered Paul was actually talking about himself. This is a powerful revelation and here’s why.
Paul was saying, “I have to boast, but not for my sake; for yours.”
Then he baits them in with encounter with a loving heavenly Father and he paints a brief picture of a man we ultimately long to become, favored by God.
Then he declares, “that was me and I boast only that because of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, this weak man whom many of you have declared to be un-qualified was gifted with a treasure unlike anything this world has ever known.”
Then with a boldness and love we all ought to walk in Paul adds, “I don’t boast about past experience, I boast only that the harshness of this world and its attempts to keep me weak have only served to drive me further into the arms of my Savior.”
“It is not great men who change the world, but weak men in the hands of a great God.”
― Brother Yun, The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun
2. Embrace Weakness
Weakness is a weapon; it allows miracles to happen.
“For years I was deathly afraid of my own weaknesses, but when I closed my eyes and let myself be vulnerable to them it allowed miracles to take place. Miracles that were only alive when I accessed my BLIND faith.”
― Bethany Brookbank, Write like no one is reading
Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). That’s why I agree with Joni Eareckson Tada who wrote:
“Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much.”
― Joni Eareckson Tada, The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus
A year ago, Easter Sunday I said that everyone wants a miracle but nobody wants to be in a situation that necessitates one.
Let us all boast in our weakness. When others say we aren’t qualified, or that we are fools for believing, or that we don’t measure up to their standards, or even mock us for our failings in our faith, let us boast that we are in a situation in which the power of the Holy Spirit can operate in our lives. It is He who sets us apart. It is He who sanctifies us. It is he who qualifies us.
3. Come As You Are
You can’t fix yourself or undo your own hurts. You can’t heal your own heart or obtain the meaning of life on your own. The path to reconciliation, healing, and redemption is through the cross. Only Jesus can give your life value, purpose, and meaning. Paul understood that. He tried to qualify himself, but not until Jesus changed his life and the world declared him un-qualified did Paul receive his qualification.
“In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul was sharing one of his personal struggles. He actually called it a thorn in his flesh and a messenger from Satan.
So here was the greatest author in the New Testament, the guy who opened the door of the Gospel to the entire Gentile world, and he was confused and confined by a weakness.
Paul asked God to fix it. Three times. But it didn't work. Nothing changed. Instead, God gave this mysterious promise that His power works best in weakness. He answered Paul's prayer by saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." [verse 9]
It may sound like a profoundly unsatisfying response if you're asking God to wave His hand and eliminate your shortcomings.
You don't want to be weak. You want to be strong.
But it isn't about being strong despite weaknesses. And it isn't about being strong after weaknesses are gone. It is about being strong in and through and because of weaknesses.
Somehow, incredibly, the things that drive you crazy about yourself might be central to the fulfillment of your potential.
Your weaknesses don't disqualify you. They actually qualify you even more, because they are the portals through which God's power permeates your life.
That doesn't mean you never need to change, of course. You never stop changing. But it means the current version of you is the right version of you for this moment.
Stop stressing and straining to be a different you, because the real you is perfect and priceless. It's not only what God has to work with. It's what God wants to work with. And from that starting place, progress is possible”
-Un-qualified YouVersion Devotional
Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, knew the secret of strength through weakness. Complimented once by a friend on the impact of the mission, Hudson answered,
“It seemed to me that God looked over the whole world to find a man who was weak enough to do His work, and when He at last found me, He said, ‘He is weak enough-he’ll do.’” All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.”
(Our Daily Bread, May 13, 1996).
Closing: Look, so much of what Jesus teaches is just nuts according to the world… We should expect nothing less in regards to weakness. He taught THAT…
¥ The way up is down
¥ The way in is out
¥ The way to be first is to be last
¥ The way of success is service
¥ The way of attainment is relinquishment
¥ The way of strength is weakness
¥ The way of security is vulnerability
¥ The way of protection is forgiveness (even to 7 x 70)
¥ The way of life is death – death to self, society, family
¥ Know your strengths. Why? Because that’s the only way that you can lay them down.
¥ God’s power is made perfect…where? In our weakness.
¥ Want to get the most? Go to where the least is.
¥ Want to be free? Give complete control to God.
¥ Want to become great? Become least.
¥ Want to find yourself? Forget yourself.
¥ Want honor? Honor yourself with humility
¥ Want to ‘get even’ with your enemies? Bless, love and pray for them
Nietzsche was right. To a people clawing their way to reach the top of their dung heap, this is nuts. The gospel presents crazy ways of thinking about power, crazy definitions of success, crazy ideas and images about the meaning and purpose of life, crazy story-lines that no author would plot.
The world will never have enough because we cannot earn what only God can give. And the world will never qualify us because only Jesus Christ can.
Let’s seal verse 10 in our hearts by reading it out loud together.
10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
Video and then Prayer:
