INTRO: By the show of hands, who here, knows somebody that is perfect or thinks that their perfect themselves? Just raise your hand! If anybody raised their hands, that action alone would qualify you as being imperfect. I want to let you in on a little secret. We are never going to be perfect. You were not perfect before you were a Christian and you probably found this out, but you are, also not perfect, now that you are a Christian. We can strive for excellence, but perfection will never take place on this side of the rapture. But see, that is the beauty of the cross. God accepts us, as we are. We are “AS IS” People. God never said, boy, clean up your act. Get a job, a car, a house, a wife, a college degree, and when you attained all of that, come and follow me.
Actually Jesus said the exact opposite. He said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened (ALL THOSE WHO ARE ADDICTED TO DRUGS AND ALCOHOL, ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY THEIR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND SOCEITY) and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
God accepts us as we are. We are “As Is” People. I want to illustrate this to you with this box of cereal. I went to the grocery store and bought this box of cereal from the dented can rack. Though it is beat up on the outside, it is still in a condition that the store is allowed to sell it to their customers. The box of cereal is sold “as is,” if we were to compare this beat up box of cereal to a brand new box of cereal, we could say, the new box, looks nicer, because it is not ripped and tore up on the outside. But if we were to look inside both boxes of cereal, we would find exactly the same contents. Both boxes on the inside are the same, even though there exterior looks different. This is exactly how God sees us. He looks past our problems, our pains, our weaknesses, and accepts us, as we are. God accepts us, as we are, but He does not stop there. He looks to who we can be, with His help.
One thing I learned about God since I left Teen Challenge is that He is a master at taking my hurts, hang-ups, and habits, and using them for his glory. God accepts us as we are, and then empowers us to become who He wants us to be.
The way God empowers us, is not an ordinary formula for success that the world follows. The world thinks one must focus on their strengths, to be successful. They believe that your strengths will bring you to the top. We have all heard, the phrase, “only the strong survive.” Well, in God’s Kingdom, it is the exact opposite, “only the weak survive.” I want to show you first hand, how this worked, in the life of one of the most courageous men in the Bible, the apostle, Paul.
2 Cor. 12: 7-10
He said, “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. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. 10 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.”
“Only The Weak, Survive!”
Thesis: We can depend on God and expose our weaknesses to Him so that He will make us strong, even when we are weak!
In verse nine, the text reads, “But He said to me.” There is a very important lesson to learn in these few words. If you do not read closely, you will miss this. Notice, it is God who is the one that is speaking to Paul. Actually, verse 9 is an answer. God gave to Paul in prayer. The answer that God gave to Paul was not exactly what he desired, but exactly what he needed.
Paul was asking for God to take his thorn away, and God, basically said, “NO,” in a nice way. In the Greek text, the word for “he said”, eiraken, is in the perfect tense. The use of the perfect tense speaks of something that happened in the past that continues to be evident in the present. This suggests that the decision God made is final by Paul. In other words, Paul is saying, if God says it, I believe it and that is final. But more than that, Paul’s use of the perfect verb, tells us that he still hears the echo of this divine revelation from God. He is reminded normally of what God said, to him that day. What Paul had heard in the past, remains as a source of power and comfort for the present. God will speak to us, so that He can empower us for our daily living.
I remember when God spoke to me, here in this chapel. I was in prayer and He told me that I was going to be a pastor. I had no clue what to do next. So I began to tell people about this, some people were excited and others were like OK, whatever you say. Soon, I realized that I had to learn how to become a pastor, so I began to look into going to college. Let me tell you, more doors were slammed shut in my face then those doors that opened up nice and easy. But when those doors were slammed in my face and those people on the phone told me you will never get loans. Due to the fact that I had loans in default, it was not my own strength that I drew encouragement from, but it was those words, God spoke to me in prayer, telling me that I am going to become a pastor. I never let a closed door discourage me, but it just gave God the opportunity to work out the mistakes I made in my past, so that I can do his work in the future.
Paul trusted God, even though He said,” no,” to him. Paul knew that God had his best interests in mind. How many here, know that “NO” is actually an answer to prayer? If God did not say, “no,” to Paul, at that particular time in his life, when Paul did not understand the value of leading out of weakness, he might have seriously diminished the power of God in his life and ministry. Paul said, it himself. The reason God told him, NO, was so that he did not become conceited about all the great revelations God was showing him. God wanted Paul to learn a very valuable lesson from His answer of “NO.” It is very simple, and one of the most powerful tools, we have, to build the God’s kingdom.
1. We are to depend on God for our strength!
Despite Paul’s weaknesses, God was able to make him strong. Paul learned a lesson that day about the quality of people, God can use. Paul had a thorn in his flesh. He was not a perfect person, far from it.
Scholars are not sure whether this thorn was a physical ailment such as an eye problem, speech defect, or epilepsy, the agony of people constantly opposing him or a spiritual temptation, like the tendency to be bitter.
Plus, in the ancient times, thorns were used as stakes in the ground during battle to show an enemy’s progress. This stake was cutting through Paul into the center of his being. Whatever it was, it tormented Paul. Paul was handicapped and God was able to take this man to places with the gospel that changed the course of history. This proves that Paul was not perfect like you and me. He is an “as is” person, as well. Regardless of the circumstances that you find yourself in, where you’re at in life, is where God has placed you and that is exactly where He wants, to use you. He strategically placed you here for this moment in history, so that He can show you things, and tell you things, that have the power to change the course of your life. Be open to Him!
All we have to do is depend on God. God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient.” The word, sufficient, means to be content, satisfied and complete. It means to come to a point in life where nothing else in the world can make you happy or complete, except God. It means to be content in what God has for your life because whether you are at a high point in life or a low point, God knows best and would never do anything to hurt you. He is more than enough at all times.
One of my professors was talking to me and said, “Jess, I learned a long time ago that God is not impressed with how much money you make, what kind of car you drive, how many college degrees you have, but what makes Him happy is your willingness to depend on Him for total satisfaction.”
Paul was suffering and God did not relieve his pain in the way he asked, but God gave him the grace to carry on in life. God knew what Paul really needed and that is what He gave him. That speaks volumes to our situations because if God did not believe in us and give us the grace that we need to carry on in life, we would not be here today. Our second chance, at life depends on the simple fact that Jesus stuck out his neck for us, so that we can have another shot at life. I want to illustrate how much God believes in us, by the process that Jesus used to choose His disciples.
Rob Bell, a pastor in Michigan, spoke on the selecting process that Rabbis’ would use to choose their disciples. At the Age of 6, children would begin to learn the Torah. This training was called Bat Sa-pher. From the ages of 8 to 10, they would have the torah by heart, memorized, (Gen – Deu) by the end of bat-cipher, most kids would go and learn their family trade, but the best of the best would advance to the next level, the ones with the most natural ability would then memorize (Gen to Mal), after this the best of the best of the best would then apply to a rabbi to become his disciple.
A disciple does not just want to know what his Rabbi knows, but he wants to be like his rabbi, and do what his rabbi does. Different rabbis had different sets of interpretations, which were called a Rabbis’ yoke. So you would then apply to the rabbi, the rabbi would grill you, the rabbi wanted to know if this kid can do what I can do, can he spread my yoke, but after the rabbi grills you, he might say you love god and knows the torah, but he is not good, then he would say go learn your family business. If the rabbi thought this kid has what it takes, he is the best of the best of the best, the rabbi would then say come follow me, you would then leave your family, friends and your synagogue and village and you would devote your entire life to being like your rabbi, learning to do what your rabbi does, this is what it means to be a disciple.
All this has huge implications to Jesus. In the gospels, we see Jesus calling Peter and Andrew to come and follow him. If they were fishermen then they were not following another rabbi. That means that they are not the best of the best. The Bible says, they dropped their nets and followed after Jesus. Of course they would have done that because in those days rabbis were the most honored and respected people. Picture this, Jesus, a Rabbi, is walking along the beach and says come and follow me. What He is really saying, you can do what I can do, and you can be like me.
Jesus tells them that He chose them and they did not choose Him (john 15). A rabbi chooses his disciples on the basis that they have the potential to be like him. God believes in us, you know. The question is what about Jesus’ faith in us? He must have faith in us because he tells us to go and make more disciples. What if He actually believes that we can be like Him and live like Him? Jesus has faith that you can follow him and be like him, he believes it and that is what the foundation of our calling should be based on.
May you believe in God and may you come to see that God believes in you. That is, why He chose you! Our job is to depend on Him and He will bring us to places in life that you can never imagine. Depend on God at all times like your life depended on it and he will bring you to a place where material possessions, females, cars, will not come between you and your savior.
We must first depend on God and then secondly:
2. We are to expose our weaknesses!
Verse 9 reads, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God works His best, when we are a mess. The word, perfect, actually means to fully share in an experience, so much that you cannot get anything else out of it. To experience God’s power to the maximum. God literally turns our weaknesses into strengths. The verb is passive. This means that God is doing the action, and we are receiving it. (Ill-throwing the ball) Like Paul, our job is to expose our weaknesses to God and His job is to turn them into strengths.
I want to show you how this has worked in my life. By nature, I am a driven person. When I was in my past life, I was driven to do whatever it took to get money for drugs. I stole from everyone and their mother. If somebody said they were going to give me money, and told me to wait, I do not care how long it took, hours, days, I would wait. I was driven. This was a great weakness because it kept me out in the streets for a long time. If I was somebody who was lazy, I would not have gotten into half the trouble I found myself in. Now, this very weakness, God turned into one of my greatest strengths, today. I am still driven, but now I am driven to do my Father’s business. I strive for excellence in all I do and it is my drive that has gotten me to where I am today. There is not a project or paper in school that intimates me. I am driven to do what God has called me to do to the best of my ability. God can do the same for you. He can take whatever it is that you consider to be a weakness and turn it into a strength.
I want to ask you a question, who here, shares their weaknesses with one another on a normal basis? If you are like most people, then, probably none of you. In our society, we believe that only strong people can lead. Only those people who are flawless, those people who have it all together are the ones who can lead, well that is not the case here. God gives the OK to Paul, to be vulnerable, to be real and expose his weaknesses. Paul is the perfect example of someone who is a great leader with weaknesses. Paul had a handicap that was a hindrance to him to some degree, until God revealed to him that even with his weaknesses. He can still be a great leader.
Notice it does not say, Paul in your strengths I will make you stronger. God says, it is in the very thing that you are not good at, it is in the mistakes that you make, it is in your problems with sin that I can give you the power and the grace to be strong. Paul learned a great lesson that day. God showed Him that if he was going to be a leader. Just as we are all going to be leaders in some form or fashion, leaders of our families, churches, ministries, jobs, where ever you find yourself, you will be able to use leader’s skills to some degree. God wanted Paul to know that to lead in His kingdom it all starts with your dependence on Him and the ability to expose your weaknesses to me.
One of the hardest things to do in life is tell somebody your weaknesses. We think we have to walk around, always on point, we think we have to be on top of the world at all times when we are in front of people. Living life like that is a formula for destruction.
Paul learned that if he were to expose his weaknesses that Jesus’ power would work in him. That blows me away. God wants to do a work within us, when we are at our lowest points so that He can lift us up and give us the strength to carry on.
Like Paul, we should learn that it is alright to expose our weaknesses. I want to show you the kind of people God used. These are people who did not depend on their own gifts or resources, but these are people who became great because they exposed their weaknesses to God. As I read this list, see if you can identify with any of these heroes who are really, no better then you and me, except that they depended on God, not themselves. Listen carefully:
1. Moses stuttered
2. David’s armor didn’t fit
3. John Mark deserted Paul
4. Timothy had ulcers
5. Hosea’s wife was a prostitute
6. Amos’ only training was farming
7. Jacob was a liar
8. David had an affair, murdered, and abused power
9. Paul was a persecutor
10. Moses was a murdered
11. Jonah ran from God’s will
12. Gideon and Thomas doubted
13. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal
14. Elijah was burned out
15. John the Baptist was a loud mouth
16. Martha worried to much
17. Noah got drunk
18. Solomon was too rich and Jesus was too poor
19. Abraham was too old and David was too young
20. Moses had a short fuse, and so did Peter, Paul and lots of Bible heroes.
What they all had in common was that they exposed their weaknesses and depended on God for Him to work regardless of their handicap. Regardless of what people told them, they believed what God said, and lived life from His word, not mans word?
God used them, just as they were. Look at the apostle Peter. The day he denied Jesus three times, he could barely speak that night around the fire to that little girl, and Peter was the one who stood up on the day of Pentecost and spoke to the multitudes and 3,000 people got saved. Peter exposed his weakness, repented for what he said, learned how to depend on God and changed the course of history.
We have to depend on God, we have to expose our weaknesses, and as a result of doing those things:
3. We can be strong, even when we are weak!
I want to share a story with you, about a water carrier who once lived in India. He used two large pots for his tasks. He suspended a pole across his neck and attached a pot at each end of the pole. One of the pots had a big crack in it while the other pot was perfect. The perfect pot always delivered a full portion of water from the stream to the master’s house, while the cracked pot arrived half full each day.
For two years this water carrier made the same journey. The perfect pot became proud of its accomplishments. The cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfections and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. Finally, one day by the stream, the cracked pot spoke to his owner about his bitter failure, “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize that I have only been able to deliver half of my water to your house. There is a crack in my side which causes water to leak out. Because of my flaws, you don’t get full value from your efforts.”
Then the water carrier replied, smiling, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”
On that trip from the stream, the cracked pot looked around.
“Did you notice there are flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” the master commented. “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we passed these spots, you watered them. Now for two years I have been able to pick those beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty to grace his house.” That is the way God works.
God is able to use “as is” people to do great things in life. If you examine Paul’s life, you would see how God used him, even though he was just as broken as the water pot in the story, to go do great things, despite his past history and present weaknesses.
In a past life, Paul was called Saul. He was a Pharisee who oversaw Christian executions. Paul stood close by and actually gave the Okay for Steven to be stoned to death, who was the first person to be killed for their faith in Jesus in the Bible. That was not enough for him, he was not satisfied. He then set out with the Sanhedrin’s authorization to go from town to town, arresting Christians to bring them to be put on trail to be killed. Despite all of those mistakes Paul made, God in his great mercy was able to use Paul to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. Countless people were saved under Paul’s ministry. The same Paul who literally killed Christians was now pointing them to Christ.
When God sees weaknesses as He did in Paul’s life, He sees potential strengths. If God can use Paul, He can surely use anyone of us to do His work. The world looks at weaknesses different then God. If you have a weakness, then you are unqualified to do whatever the task is, but with God it is the opposite. Because God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
Verse 10 reads, 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.”
Notice, Paul did not say, I delight in how big his following was or how many people were saved under his ministry, or how many churches he planted. Paul bragged about his weaknesses. Paul was upfront and personal with the Corinthians because he wanted to show them the formula for success in God’s kingdom.
RECAP: The formula is easy to remember: “Depend on God plus (+) expose your weaknesses equals (=) your old weaknesses being transformed into your new strengths.”
Paul pleaded with God, three times, that He would take away his thorn. Though God did not answer Paul’s prayers according to his desires, God still moved in a powerful way. God didn’t perform physical surgery, but spiritual surgery on Paul. Instead of removing the thorn, God gave Paul the grace to live with the thorn.
What is your thorn? What is it in your life, right now, that is hindering your from taking that next step with God? All of us have room, for maturity in our walk with the Lord. You might be ready to take the next step, but something is interfering. There is something getting in the way of you taking your Christianity to the next level. It might be that you are still struggling with past sin. It might be issues with your family that has stunt your growth. It might be the anxiety of graduating next month. Whatever it is, God’s grace is more then enough for your thorn.
As we come to a close, I want to have a time of prayer at the altar. The Bible says, Paul prayed three times for his thorn to be removed. In just a moment, I want to invite those, who want to begin the process Paul under went. It took three times for Paul to hear from God and receive the grace to succeed as a leader in God’s kingdom because in God’s kingdom only the weak survive!
Come to the altar, it might be the first time that you have prayed for your thorn or the third, whatever time it is, I want to personally pray for you and your weakness. God says my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in your weakness. Come bring your weaknesses to the feet of Jesus, and we will pray for God to give you the grace to be strong. Just Come!
