II Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
Acknowledge God in Weakness
Would you rather brag on your strength or acknowledge your weakness? That is pretty easy to answer, isn’t it? All of us would rather talk about how strong we are than acknowledge how weak we are. It’s not wrong to have strength, but it is wrong to have weakness and not acknowledge it. All of us are weak. We are just not always smart enough to know it.
Paul talks about his strength, his weakness, and those things that he could brag about in II Corinthians 11:30 where he says, “If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.” In the next chapter he talks about some things which he would have great cause to be boastful of, but instead he says, “Yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.” In II Corinthians 12:6 he goes on to say, “For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool.” All of us have the tendency to brag, and it is always foolish when we do. Why is that? It is because God empowers those who acknowledge Him in their weakness.
God allowed Paul to have a difficulty that Paul called a thorn in the flesh. Paul indicates that God allowed that precisely to keep his focus and dependence on the Lord. He asked God to take away this difficulty, but the Lord responded, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Then Paul says, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” In the next verse he continues, “For when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Only the weak need help. Only the weak ask for help. Only the weak get help. Here is the little secret—all of us are weak. We are just not always smart enough to know it. You will live in your weakness as long as you settle for you strength. God empowers those who acknowledge Him in their weakness. We acknowledge people for their strength, but God empowers those who acknowledge Him because they are honest about their weakness and because they are dependent upon God’s strength.