But 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. 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.

2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10

Paul does not tell us in this letter what his trials were when he wrote this letter to the brothers and sisters in Corinth.  He pled to the Lord to help him face the many obstacles that try to prevent him from following Jesus Christ.  These trials had something to do with what he was learning about God’s mercy and grace in Corinth.

Paul wrote that he himself was presented with many daunting challenges as he walked with the church in Corinth. One thing is certain, Paul felt weak and helpless.  Now what?  That is exactly what God wants to teach him, that we present to God not our strengths but our weakness.  Of that we have plenty!  And that is what every person in the group of believers is just like that.

It looks hopeless.  But, as we ponder the gracious ways of God we realize that we want to be strong but the Lord wants to teach us weakness.  He does that by allowing insults, hardships, persecutions and in difficulties!  The very things we try to avoid are the way to hope!

It is clear, says Paul, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”  Can it be?  It definitely is!