DELIGHTING IN OUR WEAKNESSES
2nd Cor. 12:7-10
Last week I mentioned that my sermon title, Being Content During Covid, probably caused you to think, 'he can't be serious'. Well, you might have the same reaction to today's sermon title. 'Delighting in our weaknesses, really?' Yes, really. Paul said he learned the secret to contentment and he also said he delighted in his weaknesses. As we needed to learn the secret to contentment, we also need to learn the secret to delighting in our weaknesses.
1) Delighting in our weaknesses.
2 Cor. 12:7-10, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Chapter twelve starts out with Paul telling about this man who had been caught up to the third heaven. The third heaven refers to the heavenly realms, into the presence of God. The first heaven is our atmosphere, the second heaven is outer space and the third heaven is where God is. He heard things that he wasn't permitted to tell.
Many believe Paul was talking about himself in the third person, even though he says in vs. 5 that although he will boast about a man like that, he will not boast about himself, except in regards to his weaknesses. Paul went on to say that if he did boast he'd be telling the truth, but he refrained from doing that so no one would think more of him than is warranted by what he did or said.
Paul wouldn't boast about his accomplishments, only his weaknesses. He said back in 11:30, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."
What humility! You don't hear people bragging about how weak they are! It's the other way around. And even when people do talk about their weaknesses, it's usually in regards to what they struggled with in the past, not what they're struggling with now. But Paul was different. If he was going to bring attention to himself it would be in regards to highlighting only what was wrong with him so people wouldn't get the wrong impression of him.
That's a lesson for us, isn't it? We usually want to convey an image of strength, like we have it all together. We don't want to reveal our weaknesses and issues. But being more real with people is actually a show of strength, not weakness. And typically, people will respect you more when you're willing to do that. I'm not saying you have to spill every shortcoming you have, but to be more transparent around others is an honorable trait.
But it's interesting that even though Paul had committed himself to not boasting, he was given this thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. This tells me that God knows us better than we know ourselves. I don't think Paul would've been given this thorn if there was no chance he could become conceited. So, as much as he was focused on not boasting there would have been, at some point, the temptation to think of himself more highly than he ought.
This shows no matter what we're committed to doing or not doing, we can't make the mistake of thinking we could never fall. 1 Cor. 10:12, "If you think you're standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" So if God gives us something to help us to stay on track, we need to humbly accept it; otherwise we'll be setting ourselves up for danger. Pride comes before the fall, right?
There are different theories about what this messenger of satan was tormenting Paul about. It could've been his past as a persecutor of the church. It may have been over his weaknesses; his poor eyesight being one of them. Paul pleads for Jesus to take it away and he was denied his request. No matter how much it tormented him, there was a greater purpose for it to remain. If Paul had become conceited his ministry would've went into a tailspin and the impact would've been destructive.
Perhaps you have prayed for God to take away your weaknesses. Maybe you've pleaded for God to remove your tormentor. The fact that he hasn't could be because it's serving a purpose. Jesus will say ‘no’ if it's in our best interest. And it’s in our best interest to accept it when he does. Quote, “When God chooses not to use His power to alleviate the pain, trust in God’s power to see you through the pain.”
Jesus didn't leave Paul without help. He tells him about his grace, which is enough. Paul didn't need to have the thorn taken away in order for him to be able to continue doing what he was called to do; he just needed to combat the tormentor with the reality of the grace he had received. That's what we need to do. Instead of being focused on past sins or current weaknesses, we focus on the grace God bestowed upon us. And, we focus on the power of God, which is at work within us.
Jesus went on to tell Paul that his power is made perfect in Paul's weakness. It’s like Jesus is saying, “your weakness is an opportunity for you to see how perfect my power is.” Paul came to understand some things about Jesus: his grace was sufficient, his "no" answer was sufficient, and his purpose was sufficient.
"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses." Earlier Paul said he would boast only about his weaknesses. But now, he'll be doing it more gladly. Why? Because he understood something he hadn't before. Before, he was doing it because he knew that's what he should do for the benefit of others. Now, he realizes that a purpose was being served in what it was achieving for him. "So that Christ's power may rest on me". Paul knew he had Christ's power at work within him but he hadn't made the connection to Christ's power coming as a result of his weakness.
"I will delight in weaknesses." NASB-I will be well content in weaknesses. I talked last week about being content during COVID. I mentioned what Paul said in Phil. 4 about being content in any and every situation. But Paul was also content with his weaknesses. I will be well content in insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties?! Who says that?! Who delights in negative things?
This would make absolutely no sense to the non-Christian. "Derrick, you've been going through a lot of hardships lately. This must be so difficult for you." "Yes, it is; I'm so delighted." As soon as they figured out I wasn't being sarcastic they'd be asking what was I drinking, smoking or popping? But for us who know Jesus we can understand Paul's statement in lieu of his explanation: for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Weaknesses is a key word here because when we are insulted, persecuted, facing hardships or difficulties, we can become weak. Or, if we are already weak when these things happen it can be even more problematic. But we have the encouragement that in our state of weakness we find the spiritual strength we need to rise above it and overcome. We come away with a new awareness of how great the Holy Spirit's power really is. We're able to see the vast contrast between our weakness and God's power.
1st Cor. 2:1-5, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power."
Here Paul conveys his weaknesses to the Corinthian church. As you begin to read through 1 Cor., you'll see where Paul was trying to get them to understand the difference between human wisdom and godly wisdom. Corinth was a major city so there were many philosophers, scholars and religious people there. They were well educated in their field and some were dynamic speakers. Thus they were no doubt able to provide some good arguments and be persuasive in their approach.
So here comes Paul without the eloquent speech or the wisdom that these others possessed. But Paul made up for that by possessing godly wisdom and godly power. His words may not have been persuasive from a human standpoint, but they were from a godly one. But that was the point. He wanted them to see that if they were persuaded it would be because of God's power, not his ability. That's why he said for Christ's sake he delighted in weaknesses. Paul wanted God to get the glory, not him.
Paul said he approached them in weakness, fear and trembling. Have you ever felt completely inadequate in your surroundings? Maybe you were asked to give a presentation or speech and as you looked around you saw all these people who knew more than you and perhaps had more degrees or training than you did and you felt largely inferior. You didn't want to go through with it; you felt you were going to be humiliated as soon as you opened your mouth.
Then, the spirit took over and you ended up delivering an impressive speech. It wasn't really you, it was the Holy Spirit in you-the power of God overshadowing your weakness. Later, when you reflected on what just happened, it was then you suddenly became aware of what the awesome power of God could accomplish. There was no room for boasting, except in what the Lord had done. And then, in an odd way, you understood what Paul meant when he said he delighted in weakness. When I am weak then I am strong.
2) God helps us in our time of need.
Heb. 4:14-16, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are —yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses. He knows what it's like to be tempted. No one has ever experienced the level of temptation that Jesus has. Imagine how relentless Satan was to try to get Jesus to sin. All he needed was to get Jesus to sin just once and it was over. No pressure there, right? Jesus was tempted in every way possible yet overcame them all.
And Jesus knows what it's like to be weak. He was human; subject to human limitations. He got tired; he felt drained. There were times he needed to get away by himself to pray. Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses because he has lived as a human and has dealt with weakness like we have. We have a Savior who has dealt with it all and overcame it all. Therefore, he is the one who can help us with it all.
He wants to help us; he sympathizes with our struggles and pain. He sympathized with Paul's thorn; he didn't remove it-but he had compassion toward Paul. That's why he gave Paul what he needed to get through it. And we can be confident that when we are weak we can pray and God will deliver what we need to get through.
And when we fall short, we can be confident we will receive mercy and grace. Why? Because Jesus is compassionate towards us. He doesn't condone or excuse sin, but he understands our weaknesses and will provide us the mercy and grace we need to get us back on our feet and back into battle.
The Psalmist asked God in Ps. 82:4, "Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." In our natural selves we are weak and needy. We need help; we need rescuing. God is our great deliverer. Satan preys on the weak. He is called a roaring lion, seeking to devour. A predator will seek out the weak one of the herd. Likewise, Satan preys on our weaknesses.
And that's delightful? No. What's delightful is experiencing the power of God that comes to our rescue when we are weak and vulnerable. Whether God sends someone to rescue us or he gives us a burst of power to bring us out of it revives us. Being weak and needy is not delightful. Being trapped by the wicked is not enjoyable. But being rescued is; being delivered is.
We're not glad to be weak, but we delight in our weakness because it gives us the opportunity to be able to delight in the victory from overcoming our weakness. Just like the strength of our faith isn't realized until it's tested, we also can't enjoy the sweet smell of victory until we overcome a challenge.
If something is easy for us it's not a challenge. But if we are at a disadvantage in some way, then we have a challenge on our hands. We may be outmatched, we may be down 14 points at the 2 minute warning. We are facing a difficult situation. Then, we fight, we push, we rise to the occasion and start gaining ground. We believe in the possibility of defeating our opponent.
Then, when the final buzzer goes off and we've won, we rejoice. We rejoice in the hardship because we were able to see what we were made of; what we were capable of. The harder the climb the sweeter the summit. This is what Paul was getting at. When we face a challenge-whether it's a temptation we've given in to before or trying something new that scares us-when we fight the temptation or do that scary thing-when we face the challenge head on and come through victorious we're ecstatic.
We delight in the power of God that enabled us to do it. We rejoice in the connection we have to the God who loves us and wants to see us succeed. We rejoice in the strengthening of our faith. We rejoice in knowing that when we are weak we give ourselves the opportunity to be strong.
Isa. 40:29-31, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
It doesn't matter how strong you are, we all have weaknesses; we all stumble and fall. There are times we feel so drained we think we can't do this anymore; whatever 'this' is. We deal with physical, mental, psychological and spiritual weakness. But what does God do? Gives us strength; he increases our power.
If our hope is in the Lord then we can be sure that even when we are at our weakest point, he will give us what we need to bring us back. When our strength is fading he will renew it. When we're down in the dumps he will make us soar. When we feel like we're drudging through the pit of hell he will pull us out and put us on eagle's wings.
This passage doesn't say he gives strength to the refreshed; it doesn't say he increases the power of the strong. if we're fresh we don't need to be refreshed; if we're strong we don't need to be strengthened. Not that we want to be weak and weary; we want to be strong and fresh all the time but that's probably not going to happen.
But that's okay because we can have the assurance of knowing that when we find ourselves in a weakened state as long as my hope is in the Lord and not myself or something else, I will be refreshed, renewed and restored. We can delight in our weaknesses because we'll see Christ's power rest on us.
