How do you view weakness? Perhaps even hearing that word brings up a host of negative connotations. No one wants to be the weak man, the weak brother, or the weak one who needs help. And yet, God’s glory is often shown in our weaknesses.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about his own weakness, which he called his “thorn in the flesh.” He pleaded with God three times to remove it. In response to his prayers, Christ told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV).

Paul had to learn, as we do, that it is in our limitations, our weaknesses, and in those moments when we are at our wit’s end that Christ can be the most glorified. For if we had no weaknesses, trials, or needs, we would have no need for God or Christ.

That is why Paul continues, “Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Christ is magnified in my weaknesses because it is precisely when I am weak that I lean more on Christ to sustain me and supply what I lack.

As we approach the Lord’s Day, let us not forget that Christ’s grace is more than abundant in sustaining us in our weaknesses and that Christ’s strength is perfected in our deficiencies.