
BIG Idea: God may not always remove our struggles, but He uses them to demonstrate His strength, deepen our reliance on His grace, and transform our weaknesses into platforms for His glory.
Application: Embrace your weaknesses and struggles as opportunities for God’s power to be perfected in you, trusting in His sufficient grace and cooperating with His divine purpose.
Main Text
2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 (NLT)
7 …So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1. There is
behind the pain.
God often uses our
2 Corinthians 12:7b (NLT)
7 …So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
Sometimes God doesn’t remove the pain, because the purpose is greater than the relief.
2. The total
of God’s grace.
God’s grace is
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NLT)
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Romans 8:28 (NLT) 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Isaiah 40:29-31 (NLT)
29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
God’s grace isn’t a backup plan; it’s the perfect provision.
3. The
of strength through weakness.
True strength comes from
*2 Corinthians 12:10 *(NLT)
10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Peter 5:10 (NLT)
10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
Psalm 73:26 (NLT)
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.
When we are at our