Weak Yet Strong 2 Corinthians 12

Pastor Dan Walker, PhD, MDiv

Introduction: Rethinking Strength Through God’s Eyes

Today, my message is entitled “Weak Yet Strong.” We’re going to be looking at the topics of weakness and strength. Which would you rather be, weak or strong? I think most of us would say strong, wouldn’t we.

Strength is celebrated in our society. The strong win in sports, the weak are eliminated. The strong rise to the top in leadership in areas of leadership in many segments of our society.

And what do the strong often do? They let you know about their accomplishments, how strong they are and in comparison how weak others are. When we compare ourselves to the strong around us, we may feel weak and discouraged.

If only I was as strong as so and so, then life would be so much better. But what is God’s view? In this series, we are learning to see as God sees.

Man looks at the external, but God looks on the heart. What looks strong on the outside, may not be so strong at all in the inside. Today, we’re going to look at the apostle Paul, generally classified as the greatest apostle.

He wrote much of the New Testament under the Spirit’s guidance. Through his writing and teaching, Paul has had great influence on the church and the world for the last 2000 years. So what do you think that the people of his day viewed Paul as?

Strong or weak?

2 Corinthians 10:10 (NIV) For some say, "His [Paul’s] letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing."

That doesn’t sound so strong does it. In another verse, Paul admits that he is untrained in public speaking. My guess is that if Paul was with us today, he wouldn’t have a world-wide television ministry.

He wouldn’t have a church of thousands. Paul did not have the external appeal that so many seek in a leader. In Paul’s day, he had issues with false apostles who boasted of all their accomplishments.

2 Corinthians 11:13 (NIV) For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

They pretended to be something they were not. They continually boasted of their strengths and spoke disparagingly of Paul’s weaknesses. Paul on the other hand, chose to boast only of his weaknesses.

2 Corinthians 11:30 (NIV) If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

That’s different, isn’t it. A lot of people complain about their weaknesses, but Paul here says that he boasts of his weaknesses. That was quite different from the false or super apostles of Paul’s day or of our day.

I’ve got some weaknesses, how about you? So, we’ve got something to boast about. God wants to turn your weaknesses into His strength.

God wants you to be able to say “When I am weak, then I am strong.” So today, we’re going to learn from this passage in 2 Corinthians 12 all about dealing with our weaknesses.

Let’s look what we can learn from the apostle Paul.

True Believers Have an Experience With God

2 Corinthians 12:1–2 (NIV) I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.

In the previous chapter, Paul has been boasting, but boasting in his sufferings of many kinds. Here Paul talks about an experience that he had with God where he was caught up to the third heaven.

In the Bible, the atmosphere is the first heaven, the stars are the second heaven and the place where God dwells is the third heaven. Paul speaks in third person here because he does not want to draw undue attention to himself.

He only wants to make clear that he had an incredible experience with God.

True Believers Don’t Boast About Their Strengths

2 Corinthians 12:3–4 (NIV) And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.

Although Paul heard many things and received revelation from God, he was not going to boast about it. God told him to keep quiet and he did.

This is in contrast to the false apostles who constantly boasted about what God had supposedly told them. They also boasted in their great exploits for God.

True believers and true spiritual leaders don’t boast about their strengths.

True Believers Boast About Their Weaknesses

2 Corinthians 12:5–6 (NIV) I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.

Here Paul makes it clear that the man who received revelations is himself. However, he chooses not to boast about those revelations, but about his weaknesses.

I’d encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 11 this week to hear Paul boasting about his weaknesses. Paul boasted about his labors, his imprisonments, his beatings, his shipwrecks, his sleepless nights.

He also spoke of hunger and thirst and many other sufferings, all for the cause of Christ and the Gospel.

True Believers Boast in the Lord

2 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV) But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

True believers and true spiritual leaders don’t boast in their own accomplishments. They boast in what God has accomplished.

They boast, as we’ll see, that despite their weaknesses, God has done great things. True believers lift up Jesus Christ, not themselves.

True believers and leaders exhibit humility, not pride and arrogance.

Learning to Rely on God’s Strength Through Weakness

So why would God want us to acknowledge our weaknesses? What purpose could that accomplish? I’m reminded of an account I read on how men train eagles for hunting in Asia.

Eagles, which have a life span of 40 years, are captured when very young from their nests. Upon capture, the young eaglet is hooded and put on a perch that is constantly moving.

They cannot rest, sleep or eat. During this time, the eagle hunter talks to sings and chants to the eaglet for hours.

Finally, after a few days, the hunter begins to stroke and feed the eaglet. Slowly the weakened eaglet learns to rely on its master. When the relationship is strong enough, the training begins.

Those eagles that submit to training display intense loyalty for their entire lives to their master. In a similar way, the Lord helps us realize our own weaknesses so that we can rely on His strength.

When we are confident in our own strength, when we think we can handle things on our own, He can’t help us. Understanding your own weaknesses is a key to growing closer to your master, Jesus Christ.

God Allows Weaknesses in Your Life

2 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV) To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Notice that Paul here says that he was given a weakness, here called a thorn in the flesh. No one knows what type of weakness or suffering this thorn in the flesh was.

It could have been a physical weakness or it could have been a demonic spirit, a messenger of Satan, that tormented Paul. This weakness was allowed or given to Paul by God Himself.

What was the purpose of this weakness, this thorn in the flesh?

Your Weaknesses Keep You From Pride

The purpose of allowing this messenger of Satan to torment Paul was so that he would not become conceited. God did not want Paul to think of himself as superior to others.

God can use our weaknesses to keep us humble.

James 4:6b (NIV) "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Weaknesses help keep us humble so that we can receive God’s grace.

Some Weaknesses God Doesn’t Remove

2 Corinthians 12:8 (NIV) Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

Paul was being tormented by this messenger from Satan and he prayed for God to take it away. Paul didn’t just pray once or twice, but three times he pleaded earnestly for relief.

God spoke to Paul about his request, but God did not grant Paul’s request. Paul’s weakness or thorn in the flesh was not removed.

God answered Paul’s prayer, but His answer was no. God allows weaknesses in our lives for His purposes.

Responding Faithfully When God Says No

What weaknesses has God allowed into your life? How should you respond? Like Paul, we can pray and ask God to remove your weaknesses.

God will answer your prayer. However, His answer may be yes, no as it was with Paul, or wait for my perfect timing.

If God allows a weakness to continue in your life, learn to live by God’s strength in your weakness. I’m reminded of the true story of an architect named Chris Downey.

Chris had just started a new job with an architectural design firm when he noticed there was something wrong with his vision. Five days after surgery to remove a tumor, Chris became permanently blind.

Not giving up, Chris consulted with a blind computer scientist who devised a way for him to read tactile architectural plans with his fingers. His weakness became a new way to envision creative use of space.

God allows weaknesses in our lives to make us candidates for His strength.

God’s Grace Is Sufficient for You

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, …"

That was the beginning of God’s answer to Paul’s prayer. God was saying that even though Paul had this weakness, His grace would be enough.

God promised to help Paul finish his race in life and fulfill his purpose.

God’s Power Works Through Your Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) 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 weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Here is the key principle in understanding how God uses weakness in our lives. Not only do weaknesses keep us humble, but weakness makes it possible for God’s power to work through us.

When we think we are strong, we are not open to receiving God’s power. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Weakness is a prerequisite to being used powerfully by God.

Rejoice in Your Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:10a (NIV) That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

Paul says that he has learned to rejoice or delight in his weaknesses. He rejoices in the difficulties of life and when he is insulted or persecuted.

He endured hardships and difficulties because he was living for Christ’s sake, not his own.

We do not rejoice when we suffer because of sin, but we do rejoice when we live righteously and still face weakness and opposition.

When You Are Weak, You Are Strong

2 Corinthians 12:10b (NIV) For when I am weak, then I am strong.

This was Paul’s conclusion to this whole passage. His weakness was actually a strength because it gave God’s power room to work.

God’s power can accomplish much more than any of us could accomplish on our own.

Conclusion: Living in God’s Strength

I believe that God has allowed weakness in everyone’s life. Think of your greatest weakness today.

Perhaps you’ve been mad at God over your weakness or perhaps it discourages you. God does remove and heal many of our weaknesses, but not always.

Even if God eventually does remove your weakness, remember that His grace is sufficient for you now. In your weakness, look to God for His strength and power.

Believe that in your weakness, you can do more through God’s power than your own. Memorize the last phrase of 2 Corinthians 12:10 and say it often.

"When I am weak, then I am strong in God’s power."

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