One Thing Needful

2 Corinthians 12:9 – …My power is made perfect in weakness.

A paradox is a statement that seems contradictory or absurd but is actually valid or true. The Bible is full of paradoxes. The first shall be last…The greatest must be least…God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise…Power is made perfect in weakness. At first glance they seem contradictory and absurd, but in actuality they are quite valid and true.

No apostle displayed more power than Paul and yet he declared the secret of his strength to be in his weakness. What did he mean by such a claim? After all, Paul was a man who received extraordinary spiritual revelations, so how could he possibly be weak. Because of these revelations he was given a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him from exalting himself. He describes this “thorn” as a messenger of Satan whose job was to torment him. Three times he asked, even begged the Lord to take the thorn away, but the Lord’s response was always the same: My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.
Here’s the picture: Paul, the super-apostle as some would describe him was hounded constantly because of this thorn in the flesh. What was the thorn? We don’t know. Some would say it was a physical impairment. Some would say it was a demonic oppressor or a person used by Satan to give Paul a hard time. Perhaps he was tormented by memories of his past when he persecuted the church. Whatever it was, it was something that exposed the weakness of his humanity. Whenever his weakness was exposed it drove him to the throne of grace where God, in pouring out His grace, gave Paul the power to overcome the thorn and do great things in spite of it. The more he was tormented, the more he relied on God’s grace—God’s power. As this process went on and on, God’s power was perfected, or matured in Paul’s life. So Paul’s weakness became the channel for God’s power to be manifested. That’s why Paul could say, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. He goes on to explain that to be the reason he delights—not just makes the best of, or even puts up with—but he delights (that means he finds pleasure) in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships and catastrophes, in persecutions and in difficulties and pressures. (Talk about a paradox!) The reason for such delight? Because his conclusion was, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” You see the reason we have the treasure of salvation wrapped in flawed humanity is so that the power we posses may come from God and not ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

THINK ABOUT IT: What about you? Are you strong in God’s strength and power? Are you letting His power be perfected in your weakness by going before His throne of grace to receive help in time of need? What weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions and/or pressures are you facing right now that give the opportunity for Christ’s power to be manifested in you? Will you take them to His throne right now?

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