My Weakness
by Rev. Alexandra Robinson on July 03, 2024
Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Yesterday, I honored another turn around the sun. And as much as I would like to tell you I’m still 39, my body knows the truth. Lately, my age is starting to show, and the newest version has arrived through pains in my hands. What started as creaky knees from years of running, now has surfaced into difficulty opening jars and squeezing nozzles. I’m learning to live with pain as an everyday experience that is simply existence, rather than novel. Glucosamine Chondroitin has become my new vitamin and is an everyday staple to manage life. It’s humbling to be sure, and I’m grateful for the Biblical witness that grounds me in my perspective of it.
Paul talks in 2 Corinthians about a ‘thorn in his side,’ a pain of some kind, though we are not sure the specific malady he is experiencing. Some interpretations say his was a chronic eye problem, malaria, migraines, epilepsy, or a speech disability, but no matter what the affliction, his approach is certain - he recognizes the character building possible within it. Though I differ from Paul’s understanding that his malady could be “prayed away,” I do believe in the power of prayer to give us perspective in our troubles. As Paul says we can be afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8–9). And in this experience he hears God’s assurance, “my grace is sufficient for you.” It is an assurance that through relying on Christ and not ourselves, we find our true strength. This is why “power is made perfect in weakness.” Perfect is actually translated: full maturity. Meaning that as we mature in our understanding of Christ, we are better able to more deeply understand the power of God’s love.
I find it is true that the less I focus on my own abilities, strength or power, God’s love is more visible. These maladies can allow us to realize we are not as able, strong or as powerful as we might want to be or believe ourselves to be, and this can help us trust God’s expressions as sufficient for our needs. It may mean trusting others to help as the hands and feet of Christ instead of doing it all ourselves. It may mean opening our hearts to new ways of being or doing that Holy Spirit leads us toward. For me, it means I need to ask my children to open a jar for me, or buy a new kind of garden hose, but in the midst of it, I am reminded of God’s provision in new ways: the holy help of others or the possibilities in new avenues of the Holy Spirit’s work. God’s power, is made perfect in my weakness. Thanks be to God.