Thanks to the weak title
Contents
By weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
Someone explains the difference between bamboo and reed in this simple way. “Bamboo is strong and often breaks, but reeds are weak and soft, so they do not break.” That's right. The charm of reeds is that they hold up too strongly in front of strong winds and break often, but they stagger and break in front of strong winds, but the attractiveness of reeds is that they hold up well. Reeds do not break thanks to their weakness. A prime example of this is Genghis Khan. He is a heroic hero who has conquered more land and people than Rome conquered in 400 years. However, as a leader, Genghis Khan had many flaws and weaknesses.
Later, Genghis Khan recalled the harsh ordeal of his childhood and said: “Don’t blame yourself for being poor. I lived by eating field mice. Don't say you were born in a small country. My soldiers were only one hundredth or two hundredths of my enemies, but they conquered the world. Don't blame yourself for not learning. I didn't even know how to write my own name properly, but by listening, I learned to be wise and sought wisdom. Don't tell me you're going to give up because it's too hard. I escaped with a knife to my neck, and I survived an arrow in the face.”
If Genghis Khan had been frustrated by the harsh ordeal, he would have been just a tribal chief's son, Temuchin. However, he did not get discouraged in the face of any trials and difficulties. He was positive and optimistic about the future of himself and the country under any circumstances. It is no exaggeration to say that this positivity and optimism were the fundamental forces that moved him from Temuchin to Genghis Khan.
Rather than being discouraged by his weaknesses and weaknesses as a leader, he was able to turn weakness into strength and become a human winner.
An idol in the Japanese business world, President Matsushita Konosuke was very poor as a child. But he did not blame it for “because of” poverty. Rather, he insisted that he became rich because he knew how to be thrifty for the rest of his life “thanks to” poverty. He also didn't graduate from elementary school properly. But I didn't blame it for 'because I didn't learn'. Rather, I was more interested in my lifelong studies than others because of ‘thanks to’ that I didn’t learn, and I put all my passion into my studies to learn even more. In addition, Matsushita Konosuke was weak. However, he did not use the excuse that ‘because his body was weak’. On the contrary, I was able to live a long life beyond the age of 95 by taking care of my health by being more careful and abstaining ‘thanks’ to my weak body. Seen in this way, the characteristic of Matsushita Konosuke's attitude toward life is a thorough 'philosophy of positivity' that can say 'thanks', rather than blaming him for 'because'.
That's right. The philosophy of negation is ‘because’. But the philosophy of positivity is ‘thanks to’. Therefore, we should not use our weakness as an excuse for misfortune or defeat, but to use it creatively for paradoxical happiness.
Paul Tournier, the greatest physician and counselor of this century, emphasizes the creativity of pain: “Pain or weakness itself is not a curse or a blessing to us, it is neutral. But depending on how we react, our lives can be creative or destructive.” So Paul Tournier asserts that all of the great victors in history are the protagonists who turn pain into creative energy.
Beloved, what is your weakness? Physical weakness, lack of education, poor family history or family, temperamental weakness, spiritual weakness, etc.? Don't blame these things for unhappiness. Especially, don't blame God. God turns bad things into good things. Please believe that God's great grace will work because of your weakness.
In the West, it is said that surgeons treat children like this before surgery. “I may hurt you, but I will not harm you.” That's right. Trust that your weakness can be a little painful, but God doesn't do any harm.
So the Apostle Paul paradoxically sings the aesthetics of weakness. The Bible we read today is a hymn of weakness. Weakness is not a misfortune, it sings that it can be a mysterious grace of God. So, what kind of grace can weakness be for us today?
1. It is the grace of humility.
Paul had a lot to boast about outwardly. Their background, education, and status were splendid. In addition, there were many mystical boastings in various gifts and spiritual experiences. He is a man of great intelligence and spirituality. He was an intellectual giant and a spiritual giant. I was able to live without being pushed in front of anyone. I was able to demonstrate leadership with triumph.
He gave him the pain of a thorn in the flesh to humble him. It was such a fatal weakness that it was called Satan's messenger (verse 7). For the Apostle Paul, it was a fatal weakness as a pastor. Maybe it was epilepsy. Or it would have been eye candy. 2 Corinthians 12 unfolds in a very symmetrical structure. Verses 1 to 6 emphasize the grace of God in exalting the apostle Paul. Experience the greatest glory of seeing the mysteries of heaven.
But from verse 7, the paradoxical grace that humbles the apostle Paul is emphasized.
He has made great achievements in missions in Asia Minor and Europe and experienced a tremendous spiritual world, but he testifies that it is his fatal weakness that keeps him from falling into pride. This is verse 7 of the text.
That's right. God gives us crucial weaknesses to stop us from falling into the danger of pride. Therefore, please believe that my weakness is the noble grace that God intends.
The writer Dostoevsky suffered a lot from an early age. So I developed epilepsy. However, he testifies that his weakness is a “holy disease.”
What weaknesses do you have today? Physical weakness, lack of education, financial difficulties, family defects, diseases, etc.?
It is the grace of God if you are not becoming arrogant because of that weakness. It is a holy weakness.
2. It is the grace of prayer.
If you pray because of your weakness, it is grace. It is a blessing that I have become dependent on God because of my weakness. Paul prayed often because of his fatal weakness. I often knelt down and prayed. In verse 8 of today's text, he confesses that he had prayed for a special purpose three times.
Beloved, what are the weaknesses and problems that force you to pray? What is your unique handicap, weakness, illness, or disability?
If these irresistible weaknesses have made you quietly on your knees and praying, it is no longer a problem, but a means of God's grace.
Whatever difficulties, trials, or problems, if you get on your knees and pray, it is a means of grace.
At 3,000 meters above sea level in the Canadian Rockies, there is a tree line. The trees in this area do not grow upright due to the cold blizzard and the bitter cold wind, but grow “kneeling”. But the most resonant luxury violins are made from this “kneeling tree”. The trials, pains, and weaknesses of life make us kneel in spirituality. A person who produces exquisite melodies of life with a beautiful spirituality is not someone who has lived a steady life without any hardship, but someone who has quietly knelt down and prayed. If you pray because of your weakness like this, it is grace.
3. It is the grace of power.
God's paradoxical formula is that he lifts the weak and uses them big and strong. Instead of using extraordinary and excellent heroic hogguls, God uses ordinary and humble weaklings to be great and great. God loves to use weak people. “All of God's giants were weak,” says Chinese missionary H. Taylor. In the foreword to the book "Heavenly Man" by Brother Yun, the leader of the underground church in China, Paul Hattaway says: “It is not the great who change the world, but the weak in the hands of a great God.”
We are weak people who do not know when to break or break like earthenware. However, there is a treasure in it, so it is safe and protected.
Dear brothers and sisters, what kind of weakness do you have right now?
What are the obstacles blocking your happiness?
Bad news can be good news for you too. Jesus stays above you even more. Please believe that you can become a person who enjoys grace and blessings through weakness.