Perfect Strength

2 Corinthians 12:9b

The verse I want to focus on for this article is 2 Corinthians 12:9. The verse says, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” I think you would agree that there is so much that we can glean from this one verse. That is why I aim to write two articles on this verse, one focusing primarily on God’s grace, and the other focusing on His strength. And I am actually going to start backwards, focusing first on how God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

Mankind naturally wants to be the best. We want to be the strongest, the fastest, and the smartest. We want to break records and reside in the hall of fame.

Life isn’t quite like that though is it? Few, if any, are ever considered “the best” at anything. Most of us have at some point probably heard about the debate between who the best basketball player to ever live is: Michael Jordan or LeBron James? Or the best soccer player: Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Perhaps Pele or Maradona? Others may debate who the best president ever was, or the best actor, or painter. My point is, being the best at anything is virtually impossible. Records will be broken, the greatest of “all time” will be dethroned.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be the best, but we should only aim to do so to glorify Him. We should not make it our goal to receive praise from man, but to praise and glorify our Father (Colossians 3:23). I think the difference is that instead of trying to be the best we should try to be our best. We may not have the most talents, we may not be the smartest, but with whatever talents we have and with whatever gifts we have been given, we ought to do our best with them.

When I was younger I started to get into powerlifting. On the days leading up to my first competition my Dad kept reminding me that I just had to the best I could do. The first competition went well, and I started to train for my second competition. On the days leading up to this competition my Dad gave me similar but slightly different encouragement. He told me that I didn’t need to worry about getting first place, I just had to try to lift more weight then I had last time, to set my new PB (personal best). Every competition from then on he told me the same thing, just keep steadily improving. I think that is very relevant to how we ought to live each day. Just keep steadily improving; just keep doing our best.

We tend to forget that God is the One Who gave us our talents. He is the One Who decided how athletic we would be and how smart we would be. Some people are given more talents and abilities then others. That is God’s choice. What we do with those talents, that is what God cares about.

On the flip side, we also have weaknesses. That is what we see in 2 Corinthians 12:9 where God tells Paul, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Just as God gives us our talents, He also gives us our weaknesses. Those weaknesses may be physical. It is believed by several bible scholars that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was an eye problem that he suffered from. Those weaknesses may also be mental, whether that is needing to study twice as hard as everyone else just to get a passing grade, or something more severe.

Why does God choose to give us weaknesses? Wouldn’t Paul have benefited if he didn’t have these eye problems? Perhaps he could have written more epistles which we all could have benefited from. Why does he allow some to suffer mentally? Wouldn’t it benefit Him if we were all born wise, capable of debating and explaining why our faith is the only true faith?

Though we won’t know all the reasons that He has chosen to give us weaknesses, what we do know is that His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. Think about it this way, do you find it easier or more difficult to rely on God when you are successful? I think we would all agree that we find it more difficult. We feel capable of doing things on our own. I wrote an article previously on how we ought to act with the talents God’s given us so I won’t get into that in this article. My point is reliance on God when things are going well is more difficult because we get into a false mindset where we think we can do things on our own. Ultimately, our weaknesses are for our own benefit.

On top of that, the strength of God shines brighter when we realize how desperately we need Him. When we feel alone and desperate and He takes us by the hand and guides us through our weaknesses, we see and appreciate His strength so much more. Because though we are equally dependent on Him when things are going well, we foolishly don’t think we are.

I will give a simple example. A straight A student studies for an hour or two, takes a test, and gets another A. They may thank God quickly but won’t think too much of it. They always get A’s. But what about the student who is struggling to pass the class? He studies for several hours, trying to understand the material and memorize different terms. When he takes the test he gets a B. That student would be far more thankful for and appreciative of God’s help then the first student, because he knows that God helped him to remember what he studied and to grasp the concepts.

Our weaknesses truly are our strengths. I know it sounds cliché, but it is true according to what the Scriptures tell us. Our ultimate goal is to glorify God, and He uses our weaknesses to do just that. The student who struggles on tests is keener to glorify God for the help He gives him. When we are struggling with a disease we grow more thankful for the little things, even something so seemingly trivial as breathing. When we lose a loved one we are more thankful for the sweet and intimate relationship we have with Him.

This is not to say any of these things are desirable, some are in fact extremely painful, and that is where God’s grace comes in. Therefore, this is where we conclude this article since the next article for this verse will hone in on God’s sufficient grace. I hope you will join me as we break it down and aim to fathom His grace!

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