Transformed – teen devotion – February 16, 2025
One key truth: God reveals his power and grace in my weaknesses.
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given 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, āMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.ā Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christās power may rest on me. That is why, for Christās sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7b-10
When Iām Weak, Then Iām Strong
In WWII, Audie Murphy, a frail Texan rejected by multiple branches of the military for his size, became one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. history. In 1945, during a German assault, Murphy held off an entire company alone, manning a burning tank destroyerās machine gun while calling in artillery. Wounded and outnumbered, he fought for an hour, forcing the enemy to retreat. His valor defied all expectations.
We love underdog stories like this, stories where people overcome incredible odds and win big.
The apostle Paul could relate to an underdog. Paul knew what it felt like to go hungry. He knew what it was like to go days without sleep. He had been flogged, whipped, beaten with rods, pelted with stones, imprisoned, and shipwrecked three times. Paul had no shortage of hardships, and no shortage of enemies either. He knew exactly what it felt like to be down for the count. He even boasted about his weaknesses!
Paulās resume had all the makings of a great underdog story. Against all odds, he succeeded as one of the greatest apostles in New Testament history. He was directly called to his apostleship by the risen Jesus. He was directly taught by Jesusāand even received tremendous visions and revelations from him. Paul could have flaunted such a resume at anyone throwing shade at him. It would have been easy for him to grow prideful and conduct his ministry with arrogance. God knew that, too. So, āin order to keep [Paul] from becoming conceited, [Paul] was given a thorn in [his] flesh.ā
Paul never tells us what his āthornā was. Whatever it was, Paul considered it a painful and limiting nuisance that he could not get rid of . Paul couldnāt āunderdogā his way out of this one.
Each and every one of us have some kind of āthornā tooāand we canāt get it out. Maybe itās a physical limitation that doesnāt seem like it will go away. Maybe itās grief that hangs heavy on your heart. Maybe itās a sinful habit youāre trying to kick, or an addiction with a stranglehold on your life. We do everything we can to fix it ourselves. And when we canāt fix it, we try to spiritually rationalize it: āMaybe my devotional life is lousyā or āMaybe God is mad at me or something.ā We might even try to bargain with God, thinking if we try to be a better Christian, we can barter God into making our lives easier. Exhausted, we pray and plead āLord, take this thorn away!ā
Paul was convinced heād be a better missionary for God if that āthornā in his flesh was gone. God had other plansānot because he didnāt love Paul, but because love was the answer. Where Satan uses āthornsā to destroy our faith in Jesus, God works through those thorns to refine our faith. Satan uses thorns to drive us to despair. God works through thorns to drive us to himself. When we are weak, he is strong!
Believe it or not, your God gets it. Jesus prayed a similar prayer to Paul. He asked his heavenly Father if there was any other way for the Son of God to save the world, that he would take away the cup of suffering that he was about to drink. And the Fatherās answer was āNoāānot because he didnāt love his Son; he did. But his love for his only-begotten Son didnāt stop your heavenly Father from sending his Son to the crossābecause of the Fatherās unrelenting love for you. It was that same love that moved Jesus to drink that cup of wrath down to the last dropābecause you were worth it.
Everyone loves a good underdog story. But your salvation isnāt one of them. Because when you were hopelessly down for the count, your God gracefully came in swinging. When complete obedience to Godās law was beyond our ability as sinners to accomplish, Jesus didābeing obedient to death. When the wages of sin warranted our death, Jesus died in our place. And because Jesus rose from the dead, that not only means that you are completely forgiven and restored to God; it means you will never exhaust the all-sufficiency of Godās grace for youāno matter what thorns are in your life.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for the sufficiency of your grace for me. When I feel weak, remind me that you are strong. In your name I pray. Amen.