How is God’s strength made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)?

Answer

Many of the principles of God’s kingdom are paradoxes. When the apostle Paul pleaded with God to remove his affliction—one he called a “thorn in the flesh”—the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9;NKJV). The New Living Translation says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” God’s strength is made perfect in weakness because He delights in taking situations where human strength is lacking to demonstrate the greatness of His power.

God’s denial of Paul’s request for healing turned out to be a blessing in the apostle’s life. One commentary explains that the thorn “kept Paul from imagining himself as a spiritual superman, and revealed to him the reality of his human mortality and weakness despite his extraordinary revelations. The ‘thorn’ also kept Paul pinned close to the Lord, in trust and confidence” (Barnett, P., The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, InterVarsity Press, 1988, p. 178).

Paul stopped protesting his situation and began to boast and even take pleasure in his weakness so that the power of Christ could work through him: “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” «Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. », (2 Corinthians 12:10). Paul expressed the paradox of his condition—that in his frailty, he was strong because his strength came from Christ.

The words made perfect in 2 Corinthians 12:9 mean “fully or entirely accomplished or made.

Complete.” Christ’s power is made complete—it is able to fully accomplish its purpose—when His people are weak and depend on Him for strength. When we, like Paul, stop resisting and complaining and let the power of Christ rest on us, we make room to receive countless unexpected blessings from the Lord. By allowing God’s strength to be made perfect in our weakness, we have the opportunity to display God’s glory flawlessly. “The grace and power of God interlock with human lives at the point of mortal weakness,” writes Barnett (op. cit., p. 179).

Over and over, the Bible gives examples of God’s strength manifesting when His people are weak. Moses, the great leader of Israel, was deeply aware of his human shortcomings “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”, (Exodus 4:10). When the Lord called him to go to Pharaoh, Moses cried, “I’m not adequate. Please send someone else!” But God replied, “Go anyway, Moses, because I will be with you” (see Exodus 4:12-15).

Gideon’s story proves that God can accomplish great things through people who forget about their human weaknesses, trust in God’s strength, and obey His guidance (Judges 6:14-16). And, of course, our most notable biblical example, Jesus Christ, was “crucified in weakness” but “now lives by the power of God” “For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.”, (2 Corinthians 13:4, NLT).

First Corinthians 1:27 teaches, “But God chose the foolish.Things of the world shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” We must never shy away from God due to our weakness but run to Him, allowing Him to equip and empower us to fulfill His will. We should recall His promise: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31).

When we are in need, it reveals how much we depend on God (2 Corinthians 1:9;2 Corinthians 3:5;2 Corinthians 13:4). The more we acknowledge our weakness, the more God can display His power through us: “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This shows that our extraordinary power is from God, not from ourselves” «But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. », (2 Corinthians 4:7, NLT).

God’s strength is perfected in weakness when we place our faith and trust in Him. The Lord’s presence is all we require in moments of weakness. His immense power and all-sufficiency rest upon us as we discover our strength in Him, and He is glorified. We can affirm with the psalmist, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” «My flesh and my heart faileth: But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. », (Psalm 73:26).