A Thorn in My Flesh

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Have you ever felt weak?  You know, you feel like you've done everything you could possibly do to fix a situation but then you realize that it's completely out of your hands.  Or there are times when you've done the right thing, and then things still didn't go right despite knowing you were doing exactly what you were supposed to do.  Those situations and times are given to us to show us our weaknesses. 

The Apostle Paul described his weakness as "a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself" (vs.7) and he wrote verses 9 and 10 as an explanation that the weaknesses are given to us to show us God's strength.  Because when we recognize the power of Jesus Christ who dwells in us, we will see that our weaknesses are insignificant.  By ourselves we really our weak and bruised.  But with God, we can have strength and power.

Let's stop obsessing over and holding on to our weaknesses.  Let's give them to God and let's recognize that God can display His strength and power in our lives.