Tonight's lesson at the Bible study is about joy in weakness. It's based on 2 Corinthians where Paul talks about his thorn, given to him to keep him from becoming conceited.
2 Corinthians 12
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But 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. 10That 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.
For when I am weak, then I am strong? Or when I am weak, God is strong. The Bible is filled with examples of people who appeared too weak to do what they accomplished. Only God could be responsible. It's easy to pray to remove the thorn. In fact, it seems natural to me to desperately desire to get rid of the thorn, to blame the thorn for preventing me from reaching success. It also makes sense that God uses the thorn and our weakness to work on others, to reach others who might not connect with a religious superstar. Of course, there's also hope for all of us mere mortals. Paul started out as only a mortal, maybe worse than your average dude. And he became a religious superstar because God could work through him and his weakness.
This was a great study. My favorite, Peter, pops back up. I'll come back to him tomorrow.
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