The Power Of Weakness Series

One of the most incredible biographies ever written is that of Robert

Babcock. As a young boy he made a bomb out of some powder he found in his

father's barn. He had a hard time getting it to go off, but when it finally

did, it blew up in his face and he was instantly blinded, and remained so for

the rest of his life. His parents, realizing there was not hope of his sight

being restored, took him to an institute for the blind in Philadelphia.

Robert did so well, and had such a strong will to become independent, that

even as a youth he traveled home to Michigan by himself on a train.

He went on to college, and every year was near the top of his class. In

1869 at the age of 18 he began to study at Ann Arbor Medical College as the

first student to ever begin the study of medicine as a blind person. You

would naturally assume that he did not go far.

but the fact is, he went all the way. He went to Chicago Medical School, and

there had to dissect a body, which students with good eye sight find to be a

difficult task. Sightless though he was, he passed the test to the

astonishment of the examining board. After further study in New York, he was

licensed to begin to practice in Chicago. It took him ten years to build up

a strong practice, for obvious reasons. His reputation grew, however, until

he was made Professor Of The Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Many other honors were bestowed upon him, and he wrote three important

books that made him a world figure among doctors. His thorn in the flesh was no

stumbling block, but was a stepping stone to greater heights of service.

His life is an excellent illustration of the philosophy of life that

Paul expounds in our text. The paradox that Paul proclaims here is that a

handicap can be a help. A painful problem can be a powerful promoter of what

is good. A weakness can be an asset and a strength. No one knows for sure

just what Paul's thorn in the flesh was, but there is much evidence to

believe those scholars who are convinced that his problem, like that of Dr.

Babcock, was with his eyes. Paul was not blind, but there is reason to

believe he never could have passed the eye test for a drivers license. On

the day of his conversion Paul was struck blind by the glory of Christ, and

remained sightless for three days. He regained his sight, but there seems to

have been a weakness left, for in Gal. 4:15 he says that the Galatians would

have plucked out their eyes to give to him. It is, as if he were saying,

they recognized his greatest need was to have some decent eyes. In Gal. 6:11

he wrote, "See in what large letters I am writing to you." This implies

that his authentic writings can be known by his large letters, the letters of

a man who cannot see smaller letters.

Besides this evidence, it seems so fitting for the purpose for which God

allowed the problem Paul had with his great visions. He was in danger of

being overwhelmed with pride. It would be very humbling for him to hardly be

able to see, and then try to boast of his great visions. People who saw him

having to put his nose to a book to read, and to put his hand out to keep

from running into the city gate, would laugh him to scorn, if he spoke of his

great visions. The skeptics would mock him. An eye problem would definitely

keep Paul humble about his visions, and prevent his boasting in himself.

Regardless of what it was, Paul was impressed by the fact that God could

use a weakness to make him strong. There is power in weakness Paul learned;

a power that cannot be made available in any other way. Paul is the great

expert on weakness. Out of 33 references to weakness in the New Testament,

Jesus used the word once, Peter used it once, and all the rest are from the

pen of Paul. Keep in mind that Paul was a strong opponent of Christ before

his conversion. He despised the weak Nazarenes, those followers of that

weakling who perished in disgrace upon the cross. He attacked them and

demonstrated what strength could do. When the Lord appeared and struck him

down in blindness, he had a radical change in his thinking about the

relationship of power and weakness. He learned by experience that it was his

force that was really weak, and Christ's weakness was really powerful. The