Difficulties, Circumstances, Weakness and Their Affect On Our Service to Christ

Bethel Mennonite Church – Gladys VA

What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? There are several ideas, but it seems to be some kind of “bodily ailment.”

What does God mean by “weakness?” When God says that His grace is made perfect in weakness He isn’t talking about character flaws.

God can do more through weak people. God’s power can do more with people who are aware of their limitations. Are the things that God is accomplishing through you the same things that God wanted to accomplish with you?

Strong people are vulnerable to pride. The original purpose of Paul’s thorn in the flesh was to help keep him from being conceited.

Even Paul needed to be weak. Paul asked God to remove this thorn in His flesh three times. It likely made a lot of sense for this thorn in his flesh to be removed. He had lots of churches he was responsible for, he had a lot to do, couldn’t he do more without this thorn in his flesh?

• If you can do something about your weaknesses you probably should. God expects us to seek healing, pray about our sicknesses, etc.
• Don’t feel guilty about the things that you aren’t able to do. The devil would like us to concentrate on these things and get us angry, crushed, confused.
• Keep pushing yourself in spite of limitations and handicaps. Paul didn’t use his thorn as a reason to stay home. This does call for a lot of wisdom, but at times we need to give God the opportunity to work in spite of our limitations.
• Seek to find contentment in your difficulties. Paul says that he is content in spite of his weaknesses and difficulties. If in the end, God can use us more effectively, that should be a source of contentment.
• Remember that your limitation might be doing something important in you.
• Remember that we are weak anyway. Whether we have lots of hardships or none that we can think of… remember that we are weak and limited anyway. We are unable to do anything worthwhile without God’s help.

Scriptures used – 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Galatians 4, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 1:26

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