Life Embraced by Weakness, Comfort Forged by Brokenness

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 / Acts 20:7-12

Dear beloved congregation,

In our life of faith, we constantly receive many answers to prayer and also experience miracles.

However, there are also things that have not been accomplished despite our prayers, and we often worry and feel heartbroken because of our own weaknesses. But in the passage we read today, the Apostle Paul reveals his most shameful weakness, the 'thorn in the flesh,' which even God did not remove. He earnestly pleaded with God three times to take this suffering away. Yet, God's reply was a refusal: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

This is the deepest mystery and paradox of Christianity. God's power flows not through our 'perfection,' but through our 'brokenness.' Paul understood this secret. Therefore, he proclaims, "For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Because of his weakness, he must have gone before the Lord more often, and consequently, he was filled more fully with the Lord's power and life. Our weakness compels us to remain with the Lord, and the suffering and frailty we endure enable us to embrace and understand others.

Look at Acts chapter 20. As Paul was preaching late into the night in Troas, a tragedy occurred: the young man Eutychus, overcome by sleep, fell from the third story and died. The place of worship, which should have been a place of grace, instantly became a funeral home. It was a situation that people would have said was utterly incomprehensible.

At that moment, the Scripture records that Paul "went down and threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him." When Paul embraced Eutychus, death was exchanged for life. This was not Paul's own power. It was the life of Jesus Christ, contained within the 'vessel of weakness' that Paul was, flowing out. That night, the people who saw the young man restored to life received "no small comfort."

My brothers and sisters, what is the 'thorn' you carry? Do you have a weakness, a failure, an illness, or a past you wish to erase that you cannot tell others? We try to hide these things, but the Lord tells us that that very place is the address where His power resides.

Acknowledge your weakness. And take that weakness and go down to your neighbor who is steeped in despair. We do not comfort our neighbors with brilliant success. As wounded healers, when we embrace the pain of others through our own weakness, the life of Jesus residing in us will save them.

Today, may your weakness become your boast. May your life be blessed, allowing the comfort of God to flow like a river through the cracks of your brokenness. I bless you in the name of the Lord.