We Are Not Weak Enough

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

2 CORINTHIANS 12:9

 

PONDER THIS

Most of us want to hide our weaknesses, but Scripture encourages us to accept them. We accept weaknesses first because they are a fact of life. You cannot be human and escape weakness. Another reason to accept weaknesses is because they are assets. Paul had a thorn in the flesh; he asked God to take it away from him; and God refused and said, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Many of us think we’re too weak. But maybe we haven’t been weak enough. Maybe we haven’t come to the place where we’ve said, “Lord, I can’t.” Have you ever done that? So long as we’re striving on our own, we don’t cry out to Him. But when we say, “Lord, I can’t and You can,” God says, “My strength will be made perfect in your weakness.” What God wants to do with us as we pray is to deliver us from self-sufficiency. He makes us perpetually weak that we might be perpetually dependent, and then perpetually powerful as we depend upon Him.

What are some weaknesses you desire to hide? How have you tried to hide them? What happened?

How can you trust God instead of living in self-sufficiency? Why is that important?

PRACTICE THIS

Tell God your struggles with weakness and ask for His help.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Our Weakness Reveals His Worth

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God’s design for suffering is that it should magnify Christ’s worth and power. This is grace, because the greatest joy of Christians is to experience Christ magnified in our lives.

When Paul was told by the Lord Jesus that his “thorn in the flesh” would not be taken away, he supported Paul’s faith by explaining why. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God ordains that Paul be weak so that Christ might be seen as strong on Paul’s behalf.

If we feel and look self-sufficient, we will get the glory, not Christ. So, Christ chooses the weak things of the world “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). And sometimes he makes seemingly strong people weaker so that the divine power will be the more evident.

We know that Paul experienced this as grace because he rejoiced in it: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Living by faith in God’s grace means being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. Therefore, faith will not shrink back from what reveals and magnifies all that God is for us in Jesus. That is what our own weakness and suffering are meant to do.

John Piper 

Our Weakness Reveals His Worth

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God’s design for suffering is that it should magnify Christ’s worth and power. This is grace, because the greatest joy of Christians is to experience Christ magnified in our lives.

When Paul was told by the Lord Jesus that his “thorn in the flesh” would not be taken away, he supported Paul’s faith by explaining why. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God ordains that Paul be weak so that Christ might be seen as strong on Paul’s behalf.

If we feel and look self-sufficient, we will get the glory, not Christ. So, Christ chooses the weak things of the world “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). And sometimes he makes seemingly strong people weaker so that the divine power will be the more evident.

We know that Paul experienced this as grace because he rejoiced in it: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Living by faith in God’s grace means being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. Therefore, faith will not shrink back from what reveals and magnifies all that God is for us in Jesus. That is what our own weakness and suffering are meant to do.

John Piper 

Our Weakness Reveals His Worth

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God’s design for suffering is that it should magnify Christ’s worth and power. This is grace, because the greatest joy of Christians is to experience Christ magnified in our lives.

When Paul was told by the Lord Jesus that his “thorn in the flesh” would not be taken away, he supported Paul’s faith by explaining why. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God ordains that Paul be weak so that Christ might be seen as strong on Paul’s behalf.

If we feel and look self-sufficient, we will get the glory, not Christ. So, Christ chooses the weak things of the world “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). And sometimes he makes seemingly strong people weaker so that the divine power will be the more evident.

We know that Paul experienced this as grace because he rejoiced in it: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Living by faith in God’s grace means being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. Therefore, faith will not shrink back from what reveals and magnifies all that God is for us in Jesus. That is what our own weakness and suffering are meant to do.

John Piper 

God’s Strength in Our Weakness

PRAY OVER THIS

“And Saul said to David, ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.’” 1 Samuel 17:33

 

PONDER THIS

What would have happened that day if the Philistines had a giant and the Israelites had a giant and the Israelite giant went out and beat the Philistine giant? What would that have proven? Not a thing in the world, just another Super Bowl, that's all. Here’s their champion and here’s our champion: they go out and it is a toss-up as to who will win. Who is the strongest? But now suppose, a junior high school team goes to Chicago and plays the Bears. They say, “We're coming in the name of Jehovah,” and they win the battle. What do you think people in Chicago are going to think? It was the very weakness of David and the Israelites that highlighted God’s power. The goal in our lives is not to become strong in our own power but to display God’s strength that is working in our weakness.

What are some ways you are tempted to rely on your own strength instead of God’s strength?

How might God use you currently to display His strength?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask God to reveal areas of weakness in your life that He wants to use. Step out in faith, acting obediently in that area, trusting that God will use you to display His strength.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Are You Weak Enough?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Romans 8:26

 

PONDER THIS

We ought to accept our weakness for two reasons. First, our weakness is a fact. Second, it is an asset. You may say, “How can my weakness be an asset?” In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote about the thorn in his flesh; he asked God to take it away from him, but God refused. In verse 9, Paul wrote, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” You see, many of us think we’re too weak. But maybe we haven’t been weak enough. Maybe we haven’t come to the place where we’ve said, “Lord, I can’t.” Have you ever done that? As long as we’re struggling in our own power, we don’t cry out to Him. But when we say, “Lord, I can’t and You can,” then God says, “Alright, now that strength is a fact; it’s going to become an asset because, ‘My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” What God wants to do in prayer is deliver us from self-sufficiency. He makes us perpetually weak so that we might be perpetually dependent and that we might be perpetually powerful as we depend upon Him.

How have you experienced the reality of God meeting you in your weakness?

What are the ways you fight against dependence on God?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of the ways you are weak and need God’s strength in your life. Make a corresponding list of promises God has made about meeting you in your weakness.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Our Weakness Reveals His Worth

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God’s design for suffering is that it should magnify Christ’s worth and power. This is grace, because the greatest joy of Christians is to experience Christ magnified in our lives.

When Paul was told by the Lord Jesus that his “thorn in the flesh” would not be taken away, he supported Paul’s faith by explaining why. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God ordains that Paul be weak so that Christ might be seen as strong on Paul’s behalf.

If we feel and look self-sufficient, we will get the glory, not Christ. So, Christ chooses the weak things of the world “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). And sometimes he makes seemingly strong people weaker so that the divine power will be the more evident.

We know that Paul experienced this as grace because he rejoiced in it: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Living by faith in God’s grace means being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. Therefore, faith will not shrink back from what reveals and magnifies all that God is for us in Jesus. That is what our own weakness and suffering are meant to do.

John Piper 

Experiencing God’s Power in Your Weakness

BIBLE MEDITATION

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

An evangelist named Paul Hutchins was greatly used of the Lord in large citywide campaigns. Just when his ministry began to be the most fruitful, he learned he had tuberculosis and had to be shut away from the public for a long time.

Paul Hutchins then wrote,

If blind John Milton could write Paradise Lost, if John Bunyan in the Bedford Jail could write Pilgrim’s Progress, if Martin Luther imprisoned in Wartburg Castle could translate the entire New Testament into the German language, if Paul confined to a Roman prison and chained to a guard twenty-four hours a day could still proclaim the gospel; if these men under such mighty handicaps dared to make progress and history, why should not we?

Our strength is often made perfect in weakness!

ACTION POINT

Have you ever had the privilege of experiencing this? You sensed you were being empowered by the power residing in Christ Himself, experiencing the miraculous grace of God specifically for you in that season. In spite of circumstances, God was working in a way you could not explain apart from His divine hand. Think about one of the hardest times in your life. How did God show up in ways that have no human explanation? Write it down in a journal. Thank Him for His amazing grace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Our Weakness Reveals His Worth

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God’s design for suffering is that it should magnify Christ’s worth and power. This is grace, because the greatest joy of Christians is to experience Christ magnified in our lives.

When Paul was told by the Lord Jesus that his “thorn in the flesh” would not be taken away, he supported Paul’s faith by explaining why. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God ordains that Paul be weak so that Christ might be seen as strong on Paul’s behalf.

If we feel and look self-sufficient, we will get the glory, not Christ. So, Christ chooses the weak things of the world “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). And sometimes he makes seemingly strong people weaker so that the divine power will be the more evident.

We know that Paul experienced this as grace because he rejoiced in it: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Living by faith in God’s grace means being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus. Therefore, faith will not shrink back from what reveals and magnifies all that God is for us in Jesus. That is what our own weakness and suffering are meant to do.

John Piper