God's Power, Our Weakness

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”   —2 Corinthians 12:9

How did David, a shepherd boy, the youngest in the family, too small and insignificant to be considered by Samuel as a future king, slay the mighty giant? The answer, he didn’t. God defeated Goliath through David’s courage and faith. How did the innocent, orphan, beauty pageant contestant, Esther, a foreigner, become queen and save the Jewish people from destruction? She didn’t. God working through her obedience and courage did.

When Gideon faced the Midianite army with 32,000 men, God instructed him to send soldiers home because Gideon had too many men. After 22,000 went home, God told him there were still too many. When the army was weaned down to 300 men, God said they were now ready to fight. You see, if Gideon and his entire army had defeated the Midianites, they may have taken the credit and glory for themselves (Judges 7). But if a mere 300 men defeat a huge army, God will definitely receive the glory. God’s ways are not our ways. The ways of God are often exactly opposite to the ways of human kingdoms.

This world looks for the strong, the intelligent, and the swift to win the day. God says, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). In the kingdom of God, the first shall be last, the least the greatest, and those most unlikely heroes bring glory to God.

The apostle Paul lived with an affliction. It may have been physical, emotional, or mental; we are not told. We do know Paul called it, “A thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7). Paul prayed three times for the Lord to remove it. Now, we are not talking about some ordinary person praying for God to remove a problem from one’s life. God had used Paul to raise the dead, cast out demons, and heal the sick. God protected Paul from beatings, shipwrecks, and poisonous snake bites. If Paul prays three times for the Lord to remove something, we would expect God to act. Instead, God replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Rather than be glorified by Paul’s great testimony of victory and healing, God wished to show His perfect grace and power in Paul’s life through weakness. I am not suggesting we go around telling everyone our worst flaws and weaknesses thinking these will bring glory to God. But, if we live a life of faith in spite of challenges, if we step out in courage in spite of fears, and if we surrender even our weaknesses to God in confidence that they may bring Him glory, then God’s power will be truly made perfect in our weaknesses.

You may feel you have very little to offer God today. You may be thinking, “If I get this part of my life together, if I get a little stronger in that area, then I will be of some use to God.” That kind of thinking is exactly wrong. Thinking I can make myself presentable and useful to God by my own efforts is a works righteousness. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). God loves you so much that Christ came and died in your place. There is no way to improve upon such a sacrifice. Simply turn to God and accept His grace. God loves you.