Let’s look at the benefits of our weaknesses. The limitations that God allows in our lives can actually be a blessing in disguise.
1.
You have a greater dependence upon God. Paul clearly understood this. 2 Corinthians 12:10 (Living Bible) “For when I am weak, then I am strong. The less I have, the more I depend upon Him.” Phillips translation: “For my very weakness makes me strong in Him.” You know the story of Paul. He had a weakness. Some kind of persistent perplexity that caused in him some kind of pain and limited his ministry. It was very painful to Paul and he wanted to get rid of it. He asked God three times to take it away because it was a limitation on his ministry. Yet all three times God refused. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (Good News) “My grace is all you need. For My power is strongest when you are weak.”
We forget that we find our power in our weakness. And God says “I am strongest when you are weak.” Usually we resist or resent any limitation that we have on our ministry. But if God shows Himself strong in the limitations in your ministry and if God shows Himself strong in your weaknesses, then why should He take it away? The fact is sometimes God works through our human weaknesses rather than eliminating those weakness. I think this is true for not just physical weaknesses but also emotional ones. I believe there are times we have to look at our psychological weaknesses as part of God’s providential plan for our life. That they can increase our dependence upon God.
Remember the story of Gideon when God wanted to overthrow the Midianities. He chose the youngest kid in the poorest family in Israel. Then before He let Gideon go out into battle against 135,000 Midianites, God whittled down the army to only 300 men, which meant the odds were now 450 to one. Why? God wanted them to trust Him alone for success.
So when I have a limitation in my ministry and personal life, it is an opportunity to trust God more, to have a greater dependence. Andre Crouch said, “If I never had a problem, I’d never know God could solve them.”
2.
It prevents pride. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul says, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassing revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with God to take it away 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 will be left on me. That’s why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong.”
Paul says he was given a thorn. What is a thorn? We don’t know. It’s some kind of perplexity that causes pain and limits your ministry. A thorn is something that’s beyond your control. If it had been in Paul’s control, I guarantee you he would have changed it. He was asking God to change it. We know that the thorn is given by God. Since it’s given by God, we know it’s not a sin because God would never give a sin to us. A thorn can be caused by a sin, but God does not give sin. Paul also asked for God to remove it three times. If the thorn had been a sin, then God would have removed it immediately. We also know that Paul boasted of his thorn and he wouldn’t have boasted of it, if it had been a sin. Some thorns are temporary and others last a lifetime. Some thorns are removed instantly and some thorns are removed gradually.
Recently I read that Paul Younge Cho, the pastor of the world’s largest church in Seoul, Korea, experienced a period of physical weakness in his ministry. His testimony: “In 1964 I was a young minister with several thousand members in my church. I began to think I was one of God’s accomplished servants and I almost entered into a complacency in my ministry. Then God allowed the perplexity of physical weakness to be my thorn. I developed a case of nervous exhaustion and some problems with my heart. From that moment on, I was newly forced to depend on the strength of Christ, even to carry out my simple daily tasks. During my recuperation, God had all the time and opportunity to show me the many changes that had to take place in my life and in my ministry and in the church. At that point I questioned God’s wisdom of letting sickness cripple my life’s activities. But after God had made the needed changes as a part of my modified mentality, the perplexity of weakness was lifted. I regained strength and the power to institute the needed changes. My life, my ministry and church have never been the same since. All three reached heights I’d only dreamed of before…. The process took ten years.” His thorn was not removed overnight but gradually.
What is the purpose of these thorns?
1.
They get our attention. Pain can be a booster rocket. It can motivate us to change directions. When you’re going in the wrong direction a pain can change that direction. Sometimes once you’re headed in the right direction, then that booster rocket can fall off.
2.
It acts as a governor in our ministry and in our lives. Sometimes God places a governor in our lives or a thorn to keep us from running ahead of ourselves. A good example of a weakness being a governor on a person’s life was Jacob. He had a tendency to run away from all responsibility. In the classic example where he wrestled with God and he said, “I’m not going to let go until You bless me.” God did bless him, but it says, “God touched him on his thigh.” The thigh is the strongest muscle of your body. God touched him at his greatest point of strength and gave him a limp. Why? Because Jacob had a tendency all his life to run away. I think this became a life long reminder that God has blessed him and he was to depend on God the rest of his life and never run away again.
As I’ve had the privilege to meet some of the better known Christian leaders that are alive today I’ve discovered that every leader who is genuinely touched by God has a limp in his life. It can act as a governor, an attention getter, and…
3.
An encouragement for self-evacuation. When there’s a persistent pain or perplexity in our life it evaluates us; it causes us to evaluate ourselves. It’s a warning light saying, “What’s wrong?” The thorn room is God’s way to the throne room.
3.
It causes a greater dependence on other Christians. 1 Corinthians 12:22 (Living Bible) “Some of the parts of the body that seem the weakest and least important are really the most necessary.” One of the dangers of strength is that it breeds an independent spirit. It’s the attitude of “I don’t need anybody else because I’ve got it all together.” So God allows weaknesses in each of us so that all parts of His body will recognize their need for each other. None of us can stand alone. Our humanity demands interdependence. It produces fellowship. Vance Habner says, “Snowflakes are frail but if enough of them stick together they can stop traffic.” As God says in Corinthians “The hand can’t say to the foot, `I don’t need you,’ and the nose can’t say to the mouth, `I don’t need you,’ and the eye can’t say to the ear, `I don’t need you.’” Like a rope strength comes from weaving many weak strands of cord together. I’m convinced that one of the main reason the church has limited impact in the world today is because of the lack of cooperation between Christians in ministry. I can’t do it all myself. Neither can you. But together we can make an impact.
4.
It expands our capacity to minister. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says “God comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.” If you’re going to have a Christlike ministry it means that sometimes other people are going to find healing in the wounds that you take into your life. I believe that our greatest messages come out of our deepest hurts. One of the most powerful testimonies I’ve ever heard was when a well known pastor shared from a broken heart how one of his kids had gone off the deep end and got involved in drugs and other things. Through that testimony, he was able to minister to many, many families among the thousands that were listening to him.
Pain sensitizes us to the hurts of others. I like the point where Jesus talked to Peter referring to his failure of denying Him in Luke 22:32 “When you have returned to Me, strengthen your brothers.” It’s interesting to me that Jesus was not so concerned with Peter’s failure as much as He was concerned that Peter uses his experience to encourage others after he had been restored. Our weakness, our failures, can be used to expand our capacity to minister to others. God helps us in trouble, then we comfort others with the same comfort we’ve been given.
This only works if you’re willing to share your weakness. If you hold back your weaknesses and faults and pains in your life it’s of no benefit to those you could possibly minister to.
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