What a complete difference that glorious truth makes! Relying on God, our weakness becomes the very place where God works most effectively.3 As God explained to Paul,
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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 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 (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Formerly we were held back by feeling inferior, helpless and useless.4 But Christ in us breaks those debasing chains. He makes us true sons, with a spirit far different from slaves.5 We shake off timidity, which is the fearful, insecure attitude of slaves. We march forward in freedom, confident in the power and love Christ gives us. No one has to whip us into action. Rather, the Holy Spirit develops in us self-discipline.6
… for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). M
Looking to God and eternal realities, our spirits rise above our bodily troubles. Even the worst illness7 cannot change our exalted position with Christ “in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 2:6). Our bodies may languish, but our spirits soar, enjoying unimaginable privileges and powers in heaven’s throne room.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). M
3. Research Subject – God uses weakness: God used the “weakness” of His Son for saving us 2 Corinthians 13:4; 1 Corinthians 1:18. Other examples: Creation and blessing though words Genesis 1; Hebrews 11:3; barren women Genesis 18:13; 21:1-12; 25:21; a slave people Deuteronomy 5:15; 7:7; insignificant Gideon and a few men Judges 6:14-16; 7:1-23; two against many 1 Samuel 14:6-23; young David 1 Samuel 16:6-13; 17:1-58; “a low whisper” 1 Kings 19:12; a slave girl and dipping in water 2 Kings 5:1-14; do not despise small things Zechariah 4:6-10 with Nehemiah 4:2-3; Ezra 3:12; Haggai 2:3; scorned apostles Acts 4:13; 1 Corinthians 2:3-5; 4:9-13; the Gospel in clay pots 2 Corinthians 4:7. Also see 1 Samuel 2:4-8; Isaiah 11:6; 42:1-3; 53:2-3; Matthew 13:31-32; Luke 1:52-53; 10:21; 1 Corinthians 1:27-29; 15:43; 2 Corinthians 11:30; 12:5-10; James 2:5; Revelation 3:8; 5:5-6.
4. Philemon 1:10-11 plays on the word “useless” in regard to a slave called Onesimus. In Greek his name meant “useful.” Yet his service as a slave had been far from useful. Now, as a Christian, he had changed. His new nature matched his name. “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.”
5. Sons more than slaves: Galatians 4:1-7,22-31; Romans 8:13-17 cf. Ephesians 1:3-5.
6. Self-discipline: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 1 Timothy 4:7-16 cf. Proverbs 25:28; Galatians 5:23; 2 Timothy 3:3; 2 Peter 1:6
7. Research Subject – Illness: Even Christians of great faith suffer from sickness, Philippians 2:25-27; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20; Galatians 4:15 cf. Job 2:1-10; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. In Ephesus, Timothy received advice about his “frequent ailments” 1 Timothy 5:23. Physical sicknesses and death often come from the general curses of Genesis 3 rather than personal sin. God uses our physical weaknesses for His own glory, John 9:1-3; 2 Corinthians 12:9 cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7, but Satan tries to use them to discourage us and to tempt us into seeking wrong solutions. Sinful ‘solutions’ include magic charms, prayers to ancestral spirits, Acts 8:9-23; 13:6-10; 19:19; 1 Timothy 2:5; Revelation 21:8; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Isaiah 8:19-20; Jeremiah 27:9-10; Hosea 4:12; Micah 5:12; Zechariah 10:2; Malachi 3:5, and such dependence on medical sciences as ignores God as the true Healer, 2 Kings 20:5-7; Deuteronomy 32:39; Exodus 15:26; Psalm 103:3; Luke 5:17; James 5:15; 3 John 1:7.
Pictures: Great buildings and monuments seem impressive, yet they crumble and fall. So we fix our eyes on the spiritual and eternal.