Day 10: GREATER STRENGTH
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Among the many paradoxes of Christian faith, this passage must be near the top of the list. In verse 10, Paul pulls it out and says, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” What is this? If a man is weak, then he is weak, right? If I have trouble bench pressing 25 pounds, then I am weak, and no one is going to call me strong.
Not so, however, when it comes to faith. Paul tells us about a “messenger of Satan” who provided a thorn in his flesh to slow him down. This was not a pleasant experience, and Paul prays and pleads to God to take this burden away. But the Lord does not. Rather, He says to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Some of the greatest men and women of faith are not ones who are physically or intellectually superior, but people who humbly allow God to work through them. To know the greater strength of Christ, then we must allow Him to be our strength. The moment we admit that we are weak; the Lord can begin to work. John the Baptist summed it up quite well for us in John 3:30 when talking about Jesus: “He must become greater; I must become less.”
PRAYER: Lord, open my eyes to see that my strength is nothing without You. Your grace is sufficient for me, and there is nothing that I need that You withhold from me. Allow me to bring all that I am to You in humility, and know that You can turn my weaknesses into Your strengths. In Jesus’ name. Amen