The message explores Paul’s teaching that real spiritual power often arrives by way of personal limitation. Anchored in 2 Corinthians 12, it argues that God does His most complete work not when we feel capable and resourced, but when we are made keenly aware of our weakness and learn to rest in His sufficiency.

Setting the Stage: Glory, Limits, and What’s “Expedient”

Paul opens by admitting it is “not expedient” (i.e., helpful for the journey) to boast. Some things aren’t obviously sinful, yet they slow spiritual progress—habits, relationships, or comforts that don’t nourish the mission. Against that backdrop Paul references an extraordinary episode (likely his near-death stoning experience) where he was “caught up” to heaven. He refuses, however, to treat this experience as a platform for pride or as the basis for doctrine. Experience is perception-laden; Paul won’t build his identity around it. Instead, he insists any “glorying” must be in his infirmities, not in his credentials or visions. The congregation is cautioned not to deify leaders or confuse public gifts with spiritual stature; ministry that hides weakness often breeds fakery and self-deception.

The Thorn and the Word from Christ

To keep Paul from being “exalted above measure,” God permits a “thorn in the flesh”—a persistent, humbling affliction described as a messenger of Satan that continually “buffets” him. Paul pleads three extended seasons for removal; God replies with a better provision than relief:

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Two key ideas are pressed:

• Grace is ongoing favor, not a one-time entry stamp. We’re saved by grace, but we also live, pray, endure, and are sustained by a grace that keeps arriving.
• “Perfect” means complete. God’s strength fills in what our strength cannot supply, furnishing us with what is actually needed for the assignment—not necessarily what is wanted.

Thus Paul learns to “glory” in weakness—not because pain is good, but because weakness becomes the doorway through which the power of Christ “rests” upon him.

Why We Resist Weakness

The sermon names four common reactions that keep us from embracing this pathway:

1. We equate weakness with failure. Shame drives secrecy. Men hide addictive battles; families bury depression; couples fear admitting strain. Yet Scripture and statistics alike suggest these are common trials, not personal anomalies. Concealment breeds isolation and deeper defeat; confession and community invite prayer, accountability, and healing.
2. We pray for removal instead of renewal. Like Paul, we want God to take the problem away. But God often intends to strengthen us within the problem so that His power—not our competence—gets seen. Problems are not hurdles to ministry; they are the platform where ministry becomes credible.
3. We resist dependence on God. Pride prefers self-reliance; weakness forces surrender. The preacher likens it to weightlifting “to failure”: a spotter adds just enough fingertip help to complete the rep. God’s strength doesn’t erase our effort; it meets us precisely where we max out, teaching us to recognize His hand.
4. We forget that weakness is a witness. Scripture’s most galvanizing moments (Red Sea deliverance, the Hebrew young men in the furnace, Paul’s “none of these things move me”) are testimonies of God shining through human impossibility. Our fidelity under pressure preaches—to our children, our church, and our neighbors.

Modern Illustrations of the Principle

• Personal frailty: The preacher recounts a vacation marked by nagging knee and sciatic pain—an embodied reminder that limits are real and often non-negotiable. Denial (“this will pass if I push harder”) only deepens frustration; acceptance invites grace.
• Congregational life: The church’s painful eviction from a prior facility and the subsequent scramble for a home illustrated God engineering growth through forced dependence. Doors closed, costs rose, options dwindled—and then the right door opened. The resolution was unmistakably God’s, not the fruit of clever planning.

Strength Reimagined: Four Practices for Joy in Weakness

Paul doesn’t merely endure his thorn; he learns to take pleasure in infirmities because of what they produce. The sermon sketches four practices that move a believer from gritting teeth to genuine joy:

1. Glory in infirmities (not in pain, but in power). Paul isn’t masochistic; he’s Christ-centric. He celebrates the resting of Christ’s power upon him. Philippians’ tension (“to depart is gain… yet to live is Christ”) shows a man who would prefer relief but chooses fruitful faithfulness because Christ is the aim, not comfort, career, family equilibrium, or finances.
2. Seek daily grace. Lamentations’ “new every morning” mercy translates into a daily posture: “Give us this day our daily bread” is ultimately a request for the Living Bread—Christ Himself. Ask, seek, knock are not blank checks for outcomes; they are open invitations for deeper fellowship and fresh supply of Him. Like the widow’s oil, there is always “just enough.”
3. Redefine strength. Strength is not the absence of struggle; it is endurance through it. The illustration of a veteran athlete who adapts his game over decades underscores this: maturity learns new rhythms and yields to dependence. Hebrews 11: out of weakness, saints “were made strong.” Even Samson’s final act came when he finally recognized the true Source.
4. Rest in Christ’s power. The sermon’s chair illustration drives it home: leaning a little is not rest; it is still self-exertion. True rest is transferring the full weight. Many believers “hover” over God’s promises, trembling with self-effort; the call is to actually sit—to let His power carry the load. This rest won’t massage our wants, but it will meet our needs precisely and reliably.

Guardrails and Correctives Along the Way

• Don’t idolize the pulpit. Charisma and polish can mask hollowness; hiding weaknesses breeds hypocrisy. Gospel leadership models appropriate vulnerability so the strength on display is clearly Christ’s.
• Beware the distraction of fun. Entertainment has its place, but a love of ease can numb us to our calling to work, serve, and endure. A life calibrated for pleasure will lack the depth forged by tested faith.
• Differentiate wants and needs. God’s sufficiency satisfies necessities; anxiety multiplies when wants colonize the heart. Financial strain, relational tension, and health fears are often aggravated by chasing what God has not promised.

The Paradox That Frees

The sermon closes where Paul lands: “When I am weak, then am I strong.” Most of us want to move from weakness to strength; Paul invites us to go from strength to weakness—away from self-confidence and into God-dependence. The aim is not stoic toughness or denial; it’s joyful surrender that discovers the completeness (the “perfecting”) of Christ’s strength precisely where ours ends.

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