2 Cor 12:9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That 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.
The apostle Paul was being viewed as a "weakling" by the Corinthians believers during this particular phase of his relationship with them. This matter of being or appearing "weak" seems to be a very deep personal dealing of the Heavenly Father in our lives. It seems to go to the core of how we derive our sense of value and God, of course, is jealous that we find our worth in simply belonging to Him through Jesus. All of the good that we are capable of, and this goodness should not be underestimated, flows from this center. Paul came to the place where he not only patiently endured the difficult things in this fallen age in which we follow Christ, but he actually found a way to delight in these adversities. He actually viewed the weakness he experienced as a entryway into receiving and expressing a greater power of Jesus in and through his personhood.
A part of me hates to admit it, but a degree of adversity is necessary for me to grow into becoming the person that God intends for me to be. Without such challenges, I would tend to, in my imperfection, "veg out" and "idolize" my immediate comfort. (This challenge-free life can actually be temporarily simulated in such a society as ours...but it is, in fact, only a "virtual reality"!) For my good, there is a nobler cause present in this age worthing living for and dying for and the reality of the battle moves me to a reasonable sacrificial action.
It almost sounds morbid and it would be...if adversities were our only experience in this world. Fortunately, there is much beauty and joy given by God to us in both creation and the new creation inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It must have been through this "resurrection grid" that Paul interpreted the hardships of his life. I find, for myself at least, it is only the resurrection of Jesus that makes sense of my journey in life--it explains well both the blessings and the trials and provides a context for living a good life that only comes through the grace of Jesus the Lord.
3 comments:
Sounds like a bit of "no pain, no gain" ... wish we could have the latter without the former :)
Your gain is going to be a payload, my friend! With admiration and respect,
M
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