2 Cor 12:9   But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

       

Yesterday we considered Nebuchadnezzar's power which was stripped away from him by God's power. Today, by contrast we consider Paul's weakness which was made strong by God's power. There was something in Paul's life that ‘tormented' him (v.7b) and it obviously made him feel very weak. He saw it as something sent to humble him in the light of the incredible revelations he had been receiving (v.7a), something to stop his pride rearing up. Yet, nevertheless, he pleaded three times with the Lord for Him to take away this thing, whatever it was tormenting him. It is then that we come to our verse today.

 

It's all right, the Lord is saying, my grace is enough to help you cope with this thing; my grace will see you through. This thing won't pull you down, because my grace, my power, comes through best when there is weakness.

 

Have you learnt this yet? The truth IS that however weak we feel, God's grace is there to be drawn upon, His divine ability that helps us cope and more than cope, triumph. Indeed sometimes God's grace, His love, His gentleness, His graciousness, shines through us best when we are weak. Yes, when we are feeling weak He can still use us, He can still move through us to achieve His purposes. Our apparent strength or weakness is not the thing that determines our success in serving Him; it is His grace, that ‘something' that is almost intangible that sees us through. Hallelujah!