“…My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12:9
These words were given by our Lord to St. Paul as he lamented his “thorn in the flesh”. We are not certain what Paul was referring to and many have speculated as to what his challenge may have been. Whatever it was, it made Paul feel weak and he prayed fervently to have the Lord remove it. Yet, the Lord did not remove it, He simply answered with the words above.
We can all relate with Paul. We all have “thorns” that gnaw at us and make us feel weak and vulnerable and rightly we would have the Lord miraculously remove them. And yet they persist. The Lord seems to use such challenges in order to make us more reliant upon Him and His grace. We live in a world where independence and self reliance are praised and we’d like to think that we can handle all challenges on our own. Here is where the Lord intervenes and reminds us that it is far better to be dependent on Him and rely on Christ and His work of salvation. When we do so, despite feeling weak, ironically we are made strong because we are relying that much more on the grace of God and His power and strength.
Many of us feel weak in these present days. We might be tempted to solve our own problems and take matters into our own hands and rely upon our own self reliance. This is a lie of the devil who does not want us to turn to God and His gifts of the Sacraments and the power of the Word. But the Lord tells us that it is acceptable to feel weak and to seek out His might and make ourselves that much more reliant upon Him.
Weakness is a part of being fallen humans in a fallen world. Wisdom teaches us to turn to the Lord, rely upon His grace though the forgiveness of sins and to know that it is sufficient for all the challenges we face.
Know that you are loved!
Peace and Joy,
Pastor Kilian