by Pete Johnson
I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
To 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. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 may rest on me. That 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. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)
Here are some words that have meant much to me lately related to the scriptures above.
"What is this 'strength made perfect,' this perfected power that Paul experienced in his weaknesses? It is the greater dimension of God's power. Many desire to walk in perfected power, but do not want to embrace the weakness that is necessary to enter into it. Western culture hates weakness. We disdain the thought of becoming weak. However, weakness is mandatory for those who desire spiritual strength. Paul taught that 'God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty…that no flesh should glory in God's presence' (1 Corinthians 1:27, 29). God reveals Himself the most when we are at our weakest. Paul went so far as to boast, even rejoice, in the persecution he suffered. This has perplexed many. His reasoning, though, is simple. He had a divine revelation that weakness was the doorway into God's power, and must therefore not be avoided. Paul wanted to see God's power in his life, and understood that the surest way to experience it was in his own weaknesses, both the voluntary [e.g., prayer, fasting, living simply, and serving with humility and diligence] and involuntary ones [e.g., thorn in the flesh, persecution, infirmity, reproach, and distress]".
-from Mike Bickle and Dana Candler—The Rewards of Fasting (2005; pgs 56-57).
RSS Feed