10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
My mother went forward at a tent meeting and for 60 years thought she was saved. Then she believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and got saved. And knew it. Paul spoke of an experience he had in the third heaven reminiscent of Isaiah and Ezekiel. It did not mean he was better than us. It simply meant that God chose to reveal himself to him in that way. In a similar way, his thorn in the flesh was not Satan’s attack or God’s punishment. It was the presence of Jesus Christ completing the call to suffer in his name.
There are 2 takeaways from chapter 12. Just because you never had a mountaintop experience does not mean Jesus is far away from you. He is right there and has been all along. You just know it now. Just because you have a thorn in the flesh, an illness, financial and relationship problems does not mean that God is punishing you. That is when you feel his presence even more. So trust him. The world is broken and we are passengers on a sinking ship but there is no cause for despair or inaction. There is a call to be weak, not trusting our own strength, then
rejoicing in the strength of Jesus Christ. My power is made perfect in weakness. Be weak and content, before you can be Strong and courageous.
Dear Lord, thank you for your cross, your presence, and your thorns. May we carry our cross, acknowledge your presence, and embrace our thorns as we worship you today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church