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We all have them. It doesn't matter what image we present to the world. It doesn't matter how much money we have. It doesn't matter what degree or title we have. We all have weaknesses. The problem is we live in a prosperous, image-driven society. We try to show others our best, most airbrushed image. The last thing we want our friends to see is our flaws, but we all have our weaknesses.
Some of our weaknesses are physical, some are mental, some are moral. Some of those weaknesses have to do with our work, some with our family life, some with our relationship with Christ. Some of us, have short tempers, others of us struggle with depression or anxiety. Some of us are too proud, others of us lack back-bone--we give in too quickly. But all of us are weak in some area of our life.
Paul had his weaknesses. One in particular caused him a great deal of heartache. We don't know for certain what it was. He called it his "thorn in the flesh." We can only speculate. Some have suggested Paul suffered from epileptic seizures. If so, he was in good company. Two of the most powerful men who ever lived--Julius Caesar and Napoleon--were epileptics, as have been many other great individuals through history. In Paul's day there was no Dilantin or Keppra to control seizures. If that was his thorn, he was stuck with it. Some speculate it might have been an eye sickness, or a speech impediment, malaria, leprosy, hysteria or even depression. Because of the word choice Paul uses some have suggested it was debilitating migraine headaches. Tertullian understood this to be the interpretation from earlier oral tradition.
Paul prayed that God would deliver him from his affliction. Three times he beseeched God about this matter, but God's answer to him was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Notice those final words: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." In other words, God seemed to be saying to Paul, "Trust me, Paul. I will take care of you. And I can use your weakness to demonstrate my power."
We can learn from Paul's experience. Paul not only learned to accept his thorn in the flesh, he also even began to boast about his weakness in order to show the power of Christ. Our weakness, whatever it may be, can become our strength if we will commit it to God.
Our weakness can become a strength, if it causes us to grow. When we can grow beyond fear, beyond self-centeredness, beyond immaturity--then we can reflect God's glory. God's glory may shimmer in our strengths, but it shines in our weaknesses. God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him. Suffering strips away second rate sources of happiness driving us to depend on God alone to satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts. When others see us grow in patience, wisdom, courage and faith through our heartaches, that's when God's glory shines a convicting light into the hearts and minds of others around us. That's what causes them to say, "I see God in you. I want what you have."
It is only human to pray for God to fix our troubles. The Apostle Paul had done that more than once. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me." (vs. 8) Pleaded. Begged. What do you do when God doesn't fix your most grievous problem? That's the time when you pray for God to reveal Himself in your troubles. "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" (vs. 9) When we give up on our own strength and rely totally on God to help us endure our troubles, that's the point when we discover the true nature of God's character and the true faithfulness of God's promises.
Have you reached a point in your life where you are pleading with God to change you or to change your circumstances? Does it seem like God is silent in your struggles? Then instead of asking God to fix your circumstances, ask God to reveal Himself in your circumstances. Admit that the only way you will get through this is with God's strength. And look for opportunities to grow in courage and compassion and wisdom. Our weaknesses can become strengths if they help us grow.
They can also become strengths if they make us more determined to give our best in all circumstances. Remember, our life is not just about us. If we believe in God as our Creator, then we know that God made us for a greater purpose than our own happiness and comfort. When people look at us, at our character and our choices and our priorities and our actions, they should see the power and truth and love and wisdom of God. Other people should feel some impact from our lives. They should be inspired or comforted or challenged or changed because of their contact with us. So how you choose to respond to your weakness matters.
Bethany Noel Murray is an artist from Boston, Massachusetts. Her paintings look like fantasies of magical forests filled with light and colors and strange shapes. Fans of her work describe it as like looking at a beautiful landscape through a kaleidoscope.
The secret to Murray's unique and beautiful paintings lies in the pain that she suffers. Bethany Noel Murray has suffered from chronic migraines for over 20 years. In addition to the intense pain of the headaches, she also experiences sensitivity to light and sound, and distortions in her vision during a migraine. Rather than give up her art and hide in bed, Bethany turns her pain into beauty. As she says, "My paintings have been proof to myself of what I experience during an attack, and despite the pain, I've made the choice to see the good, weird, and beautiful."
God may shimmer in our strengths, but He shines in our weakness--if we let our weakness lead us to grow and if it causes us to give our best effort in all circumstances.
Our weakness can become a strength if it helps us change our life's course. Sometimes what seems a weakness is only a signal that we are pursuing the wrong trail.
One of the most revealing lines in literature appears in the opening paragraph of A. A. Milne's Winnie-The-Pooh. Milne writes: "Here is Edward Bear coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way . . . if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it!"
If you keep bumping your head coming down the stairs, maybe it is time you stop for a moment and think if there is another way it might be done. Sometimes our so-called weaknesses are simply warning signs to us that we are on the wrong road.
Our weaknesses may become strengths if they remind us of our dependence on God. Can't you hear Paul? "Look at me, I once persecuted the church. Look at me, a man who has to battle this humiliating affliction--this thorn in the flesh. Yet Christ has used me to plant churches all over the known world." Paul was a man of tremendous intellect. He was also a man of unquestionable persuasive powers. Perhaps if it had not been for his thorn in the flesh, he would have leaned upon his own ability rather than the power of God working through him. And you and I would never have heard the name of Paul. His weakness became his strength. And the same thing can happen to us--if our weakness helps us to grow, if our weakness makes us more determined to succeed, if our weakness causes us to try new things, and if our weakness causes us to rely on God.
God has the power, authority and mercy to answer our every prayer and take away our every weakness. He could make our life as smooth and comfy as a velvet blanket. Why doesn't He? Because our life is meant to be a reflection of God's love and power. And God's power is made perfect in weakness. May we have the faith to say with the apostle Paul, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is pastor of Maitland Church of the Brethren, Lewistown, PA where he is currently serving in his 28th year. He graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in S. Hamilton, MA.