I think one of the most difficult lessons for us to learn is that God will purposefully allow adversity and weakness into our lives so we can experience His grace. In 2 Corinthians 11 and 12, Paul was dealing with a very real issue.

He wrote: “Therefore in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the LORD to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, than I am strong (2 Corinthians. 12:7-10).

Chapter 11 tells us there were these men, who had found their way into Corinth. They wanted to be “considered equal with the apostles in the things they boasted about”. Only they were charlatans, “false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light”. So, it was no surprise that his servants also masquerade as an angel of righteousness (2 Corinthians. 11:13-15). These men were trying to tear Paul down; to undermine his ministry. If they could discredit Paul, they discredit his claims.

Why would they do this? Well, they did it in order to make themselves look better. They wanted to feel important. Isn’t that what some people do in this life? They exalt themselves at the expense of others. Human nature pursues self-glory. It longs for the admiration of others. So, its all about boasting in our successes while hiding our failures. We want others to think we’re awesome. As a result, we use our achievements as the means to gain favor.

As I said, these false apostles were trying to tear Paul down and if it were simply a personal attack, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to respond. However, they were also distorting the gospel and so action was required. Reluctantly, Paul held his doctrine, his conduct, his sufferings up as a comparison. His reluctance however, did not stem from fear but an understanding that boasting in anything else but the cross of Christ tends to obscure God’s grace. It could cause one to take their eyes off of the sufficiency of God’s grace. That was the last thing Paul wanted. Paul wanted his audience and us to understand it isn’t our achievement that highlight God’s grace. It is our helplessness.

Paul learned and modelled this. He considered himself the “chief of all sinners” (1 Timothy. 1:15). His achievements were “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8-9). He taught there was no power in self-righteousness (Philippians 3:6-9) and it was only through the love and grace of God that he was brought to faith (Acts 9:5). He had been called to be an apostle (Romans 1:1) and would surely suffer for His sake (Acts 9:16). It was all of God!

Paul knew the grace of God. He had been brought to his knees on that Damascus road. Saved, called and commissioned, he was a new man with a new master. He would receive great revelations and experience incredible success in ministry. He would also come to understand just how much he would suffer for the sake of the gospel. Beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, left for dead, and let’s not forget, tormented by men who would follow him around with the goal of discrediting him.

Now, go back to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 and again, examine what he writes. Paul says His Lord gifted him with a “thorn in the flesh”, “a messenger from Satan”. What a great gift that is (sarcasm folk)! But the truth is, it was a good gift because it was a gift that reminded Paul of his dependence on God for everything. Now, Paul didn’t see it as a gift at first. Three times he asked to have it removed and God responded with a NO! “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”!

You want to talk about something to wrestle with? This is it! God purposefully allowed adversity and weakness into Paul’s life so he might experience His grace and he does the same thing with us. Paul got it! We know that because he continued to write, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardship, persecution and calamities. For when I an weak, than I am strong”! WOW. Could we say that we are content with those things for the sake of Christ?

Weakness frustrates us! We are told from a young age that we need to be strong, suck it up, be a man, but scripture tells us for the sake of Christ, we must learn to become content with our weakness. We all have them; limitations of some sort or another. Whether it is an illness, a disability, disease or some other adversity. Paul reminds us that we need to depend on the Lord for everything. So, the nest time you are facing adversity, or illness or what have you, thank God for it. He has obviously allowed that to come into your life so that you might experience His grace in a new way. And experiencing His grace you will find even greater joy.

Praise God for His is good. All the time!