In yesterdays' reading we saw that Paul has no desire to boast in himself at all. But he said that if he must, he would boast only in his weaknesses. That just seems so strange, doesn't it? It's so different than the norm today.
But Paul was faced with a dilemma: he needed to strengthen the Corinthian church with confidence in his apostleship, but he refused to glorify himself by boasting about his spiritual experiences. So reluctantly, he tells of his Damascus road experience—but only vaguely, and also in third person, for he cannot bear to talk about himself in that way.
Then he shares something else—something very personal: in order to keep him humble, God had given Paul a "thorn in the flesh." Without knowing exactly what this was, we do know its purpose—to keep Paul "weak," so that he would never rely on his own power, but on God's power, which was made perfect in Paul's weakness (vs 9).
Do you see? If our power had anything to do with the equation (whether our salvation or that of others), we would have reason to boast in ourselves. Instead, God's power shines through in our weakness, and he gets the glory. Like Paul, may this give you freedom to be content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; and say with confidence, "For when I am weak, then I am strong."
No comments:
Post a Comment