"... Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given 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 weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2Corinthians 12:7-10
Focusing on this conversation that Paul is having, many of us can relate to the first piece. We all have something that bothers us and brings us pain or distraction. There is something in Paul's life that is keeping him from giving God his all, or so he thinks. There is something that is making Paul weak. When Paul asks God to take it away, God refuses multiple times.
Imagine how Paul must have felt. "God, please take away this thorn so I can serve you better!" He wanted to please God and He asked God for help to serve God. In response, God says no. Doesn't God want the best for us? Doesn't He want us to serve Him and worship Him? How could He say no to enabling that?
Well, that is a simple answer that may not seem easy to handle at first. God said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." When we give up our strength and trying to glorify God in our own way without including Him, God may shine brightly. His grace is more than enough for our weaknesses. Moses was not a good speaker, but God gave him help and showered His grace upon him. We all sin, but God uses us still. Adam and Eve messed up and had to endure punishment that effected all of man kind, but God still used their blood to bring forth Jesus Christ. It is because of our weaknesses that we can see God's glory. If Adam and Eve were perfect, it would only be logical that they somehow brought forth the perfect Jesus. If Moses was a great motivational speaker, "let my people go" would be as powerful as "four score and seven years ago." It is because Adam and Eve fell that the glory of Christ was so much more powerful and shocking. It is because Moses had a stutter and could not speak well that God's glory of His miracles and powerful words brought an entire people out of slavery. It is because of our weakness that God can shine bright and make Himself glorifies.
His power is made perfect in our weakness. By this, He is saying that His power may be fully shown in the areas where we lack ability. I was horrible at math, and every time I passed I thanked God because I knew that it was not my subject or my doing for passing. I am an English major, so I do not thank God the same way when I do well in English. I thank Him for blessing me with the gift, but I don't jump up and down and sing praise and worship for His goodness when I pass English like I did when I passed math. It works like that. When we are bad in an area and success happens, it is all because of God. That is how God's power is made perfect in our weakness. He is able to step in and take full glory when we are bad at something.
None of us are perfect, and we will always have something that we are not good at. We must not try to remove the thorn in our side, but ask God to shine brightly in that area of our life. Look at Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." We can do all things if we allow God to work. We must not try to become perfect. Instead, allow God to show His perfection in our weakness. He covers what we cannot do. We must offer our flaws to God and allow Him to work in us.
-D
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