In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 we read these strange words, “When I am weak then am I strong”, these words are spoken by the Apostle Paul who had just received a remarkable answer to prayer. Paul had for some time labored under a heavy trial, which he calls, “a thorn in his flesh”. Deeply concerned that this thorn whatever it was, would greatly reduce his usefulness as a minister of the Gospel, he cried most earnestly to his Master to remove it from him. Three times he sent up his petition but to no avail. That is to say- Lord did not remove that thorn. Instead God promised His servant for more abundant communication of grace, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (verse 9).
As Paul found out that this was better than his thorn removed. His weakness remained, but instead of experiencing this as a handicap, the apostle now came to value it as a real asset. The weaker he was in himself, the more he leaned on Christ and His Almighty arm. Therefore, as strange as this may sound, Paul could now say, ‘when I am weak then am I strong’. This is something that everything Christian must learn and will learn if he is a Christian. But he often learns it the hard way. For nothing is more contrary to flesh and blood then this.
By nature, we are inclined to think that our happiness consists in being strong and independent. World admires that kind of man who asserts himself and who has inner resources from which to draw strength and ideas. The self-made man, the entrepreneur in business, the successful politician, the popular athlete or movie actor, these types of people receive the plaudits from the masses.
Alas, this is even true in the world of religion. How much of modern religion is based on the flesh, on carnal reasoning, and on men’s ideas? It is men who decide for Christ, who does this or that for the Lord and His kingdom. For all the lips service that is being paid to grace, much of our so-called evangelicalism today is thoroughly men-centered and must be termed ‘works-religion’. Yet for all their boasted strength, they are really very weak, not in their own eyes of course, but in the sight of God, people who rely on their own wisdom and ability should really turn Paul’s great statement around and say, “when I am strong then am I weak.” But of course, they will never do this until they are taught by Holy Spirit.
But, we are all like that, we are all foolish enough to think that we can do something to please God. We try to obey God’s law, but we forget that trying is not enough. It is doing that God requires. He demands that we keep His law perfectly, that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Even after the Lord begins to deal with us and shows us that it is not by works but by grace that we are saved, we still try to believe and repent and do all sorts of spiritual exercises forgetting that none of these things lie within our power either, but that salvation is God’s work from beginning to end.
We need to be brought off from works again and again, we must learn that in ourselves there is nothing that can please God and that we cannot do anything in our own strength. We all know this, yet we often act as, though this was not true at all. We can only be saved through the work of another- The Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation comes to us as a gift of grace. This grace is not only necessary at the beginning of spiritual life (when we are converted), but through out our whole Christian life. It was not only God’s amazing grace that saved a wretch like John Newton at the beginning but that same grace saw him through many dangers, toils and snares. In his own words, “His grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.” But this grace is experienced in the believer’s weakness. The weaker God’s child feels, the stronger he is in God and in Christ. That’s the secret.
Notice what Paul says, “when I am weak then am I strong.” I believe the apostle means, when I am consciously weak, when I truly feel my weakness, then I am strong. We are weak, whether we realize it or not, and all of us acknowledge it as a fact. The Bible teaches this truth and therefore we do not question it. It is one thing, however to believe something to be true but to experience the reality of it, that is quite another. Only the Holy Spirit can teach us. Holy Spirit not only uncovers us to our sin and guilt but also shows us how utterly weak and helpless we are in ourselves. This way He make us feel our need of Christ and His saving work. He reveals to weak and impotent sinners that Christ is an Almighty Savior and He also enables to cast ourselves upon this able and willing savior.
This sense of weakness is progressive, there is a growing awareness that without the savior nothing can be done to God’s honor and praise. This is true sanctification, not when I grow stronger and stronger in my own estimation, so that I can boast of having conquered this sin or that lust and attain to this spiritual height or accomplished that great work for the Lord- no. True sanctification and growth in grace means, that we become weaker and weaker in ourselves until we write death upon every power we once thought we possessed, so that Christ becomes our all in all. When I am weak, Paul says, then am I strong, namely in Christ. Do you see the connection now between the ‘when’ and the ‘then’? This is an experiential connection.
When Christ said to Paul my grace is sufficient for thee, this was not just a well-meant expression of moral support, Paul actually received strength from his Savior to bear His cross and to put up with that thorn in his flesh. When you and I really feel our weakness and therefore put our trust in the Lord, He will never disappoint us and put us to shame. Whoever takes Him at His words and trusts Him for salvation, or anything else that is needed later on in the Christian life, such a person will be supplied out of the fullness, which God has led up in His Son.
Have you never experienced this, that as long as you try to repent and believe in your own strength, you just couldn’t do it? Also, when you tried to give up sinning and live a holy life, drawing on your own resources, the result was rather the opposite. Sin, and the desire for it became even stronger than before, causing great confusion within, you could not even produce a tear of true heart sorrow for sin, you are as hard as a stone and as cold as ice, until, you are brought to the end of self and self-extortion. As a poor wretched weak and weary sinner, you passed yourself into the arms of sovereign grace and wholly leaned on Jesus’ name, then strength flowed into your soul, then you confessed your sin as never before with weeping and tenderness, then you resolved to seek the Lord and to do His will, you gladly gave up sin and everything displeasing to the Lord.
Have you ever been there, in the valley of humiliation, crying to Lord for strength, His strength? Or do you still rely on your own strength? You rely on your strength, whenever you say these- I am doing my best, I pray, I read the Bible, I go to church, I try to live a good life, etc., etc. But then you cannot really say what Paul says here. Can you? When I am weak then am I strong. You’ve never understood these words of the apostle. You’ve not really understood what Christ once said to His disciples, when they asked in despair, “who then can be saved?”, then He replied, “with men this is impossible but with God all things are possible”. It is what Jacob experienced at Peniel, all night he had wrestled with that stranger, but towards dawn, his opponent touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh, making his thigh to twist, so that Jacob cannot wrestle any longer. What will Jacob do now, give up? No. He falls, because his feet give way under him, he cannot do anything but fall, but as he falls, he grasps his antagonized and cling to him crying, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me”. The weaker Jacob became in himself, the stronger he became in His God. So that God gave him another name- Israel means prince of God, the one who struggle with God.
When I am weak then am I strong. Don’t be too discouraged, my friends, in the faith. When you feel so weak and so inadequate, don’t listen to the devil, who will at such times seek to drive you to despair as you franticly try to do in your own strength what God says is impossible. Be rather encouraged when you feel so helpless and so weak. For only in this way you are a fit object for Christ, who wants to be your strength, your life and your all in all. Amen.