“7. And lest I should be exhalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exhalted above measure. 8. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
The Apostle Paul is the one writing this passage of scripture. A very unusual thing we read about Paul is that it appears he died and saw heaven for a moment. Its possible he died from the multiple times of being stoned, but we don’t know for sure exactly how it happened. When we pick up reading in verse 7 we can see that God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh which was some type of physical problem. God didn’t want Paul to be lifted up within himself for the heaven experience(verse 1-6) he had, so He allowed a messenger of Satan(a fallen angel) to buffet him, or strike him. Its easy to think that serving God allows us to be healthy, strong, and above the rest, but when we look at the account of Paul we can quickly see that God allows hardships in our lives in order to be best used of Him. Its a hard pill to swallow, but as believers we have to realize that sometimes God gives us the answer of “no”. Paul prayed and asked God to heal him of this physical problem, but God said “no”. Do you feel like you have to have everything in order to serve God? God told Paul his grace was sufficient enough and that he will have to live with this physical problem. The word grace means unmerited favor, better yet known as salvation! Jesus Christ is all we need and everything we need to have strength in some of the most difficult times in life we could face. Are you will to serve God no matter what the circumstance? There are many who have physical problems such as being paralyzed, blindness, lost limbs, asthma, diabetic, heart problems, etc. Don’t allow hardships in your life prevent you from serving God, but just as Paul did, glory in the difficult things God allows in your life. The Bible tells us we will find the most strength in our weaknesses. The flesh drives us to a place of misery when we don’t get things the way we want them. We must read the Bible daily, its the only way to learn victory through the difficulties of life! Are you saved today? Jesus is the answer to all of our problems. If you can find joy in your struggles, God will use you in a great and mighty way! Look at Paul’s life! He wrote many books of the New Testament, but went through some of the hardest persecutions we could read about! Strength is always made perfect in weakness! That’s what the Bible says!
Memory Verse Week 1/1/18
II Corinthians 12:9
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
