Whenever I am Weak
July 6, 2003
2 Corinthians 2:10
4th Sunday after Pentecost
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
larry@larryjameson.com
back to our church home page
9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Very often, God chooses people
because they are weak.
If that sounds backwards to you, it is.
God turns the wisdom of this world upside-down.
In 1 Corinthians 1:27 the Bible says:
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things --
and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are,
so that no one may boast before him.
And in 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul said,
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses,
in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
What is that all about?
Well, Paul was a pretty smart guy.
God called him into the ministry
and gave him a job to do.
As Paul went on with the work of telling
people about Jesus,
he noticed something.
Every time he tried to do things
by his own strength, his own wisdom,
or by his own cleverness,
he failed.
But, when he looked past his problems,
and learned to trust God
even when it didn’t make much sense,
hundreds, even thousands of people became Christians.
It’s all about the mission.
This weakness thing,
is not about your job,
it’s not about school,
and it’s not about your marriage or family life.
God is pleased when you are successful
at work,
in the classroom,
and in your home.
God wants you to be healthy,
and wise.
And there is nothing wrong with being good looking too,
if you have that ability.
You can be a good Christian AND have lots of money.
Money, good looks, education, personal success,
are all important in their own way,
but the Bible teaches
that there are MORE important things in life,
such as...
giving and receiving love,
being a loyal and trustworthy friend,
living for Jesus
and becoming an effective, dynamic, Spirit-filled Christian.
One of the secrets to
having a successful Christian life
is the ability to look at personal weakness and hardship
from God’s perspective.
When we are weak, then he is strong.
Let me give you an example:
The following prayer was written by an Ethiopian Christian.
"Almighty God, from the depth of my heart I plead with thee to send us trouble.
When our king was exiled we were in much trouble with the foreign rulers. We had
to meet in secret and were in constant danger of our lives. That was the time
when we worked in harmony
with our fellow Christians.
Many a night after I had locked my door and gone to bed, tired from a day’s long
journey of preaching and teaching, there came a persistent knocking. Lord, how I
wanted to sleep, and surely
they wouldn’t want to be baptized at night and be hunted and chased and put in
prison and beaten, but they said they had seen
the Christian's joy and they too wanted that religion. Every night there were
more and more.
We read Thy Word and talked about it and prayed through the nights. We shared
our joy in the Lord. We worked side by side with only one desire, to preach and
teach the Gospel. Then, Lord, our king came back. The foreign rulers were forced
to leave our country. . .
We have peace in our land. We baptize in the daytime. We are not beaten. We meet
and pray, yes, but we are beginning to grow careless in our zeal for Thee.
Jealousies creep in and spoil the harmony. Petty troubles take on in large
meetings. We are selfish in our ambitions. Dear Lord, send us more trouble, I
pray Thee, that we may forget ourselves and be so dependent on Thee that we have
no time to become selfish and jealous of our fellow Christians. For Jesus' sake.
Amen.”
(from the Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan,
page 1509, illustration number 6847)
The Ethiopian preacher
had the same heart that Paul had.
His passion was focused on one thing:
making disciples for Jesus Christ.
It’s OK to enjoy the things this world offers,
but the Bible points out
that what God offers is better.
Years ago, a there was a young farmer
just getting started as a peach grower.
He purchased land. He planted trees.
He worked hard, and invested everything he had
into the business.
The orchard was a success.
His wife brought him to the local church,
where he was baptized, and became a member.
He never missed a Sunday service.
Then, one day, a cold snap moved through the area.
Frost took an entire crop.
The young man did not go to church that Sunday,
or the next, or the next.
Finally the preacher went out to visit.
The young man said,
“I’m not coming to church any more.
Do you think I can worship a God
who cares for me so little
that he will let a frost kill all my peaches?”
The preacher looked at him a few moments in silence,
then he said in a kindly voice:
“God loves you better than he does your peaches.
He knows that while peaches do better without frost,
it is impossible to grow the best men without frost.
His object is to grow men, not peaches.”
(from the Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan,
page 1510, illustration number 6851)
Dear ones,
being a Christian isn’t easy.
It takes a humble spirit,
and faith that is often tested.
We don’t learn by having success handed to us.
We learn
through trials, mistakes, problems, difficulties, and failures.
We learn to cherish life when someone we love has died.
We learn to endure when something is worth suffering for.
We learn to trust God when we have no other choice.
Application
What are some practical ways Christians can deal with problems?
Here are three steps I call O-U-T .
1) When you have a
problem,
the first thing you can do is to determine O for OWNERSHIP.
Ask yourself:
“Whose problem is this?” “Who owns this problem?”
This will help you get clarity.
Sometimes our pride gets us all bent out of shape,
and we can obsess on things
that in the long run
may not be our problem at all.
When you ask the question,
“Whose problem is this?”
it is a way of stepping back
and taking stock.
The answer to the question might be,
“It is really not my problem at all”.
Then you have permission to relax.
You can start praying that God will give this problem
his perfect solution.
When a problem does not belong to you,
it is a lot easier to give it back to God.
Here is an example.
Let’s say someone at work doesn’t like you.
Let’s say they are always trying to pick a fight,
or embarrass you, or get you into trouble.
Is this really your problem?
Actually it isn’t.
The antagonist has a big problem.
The person who is looking for a fight is the one in trouble.
When you can see things as they really are,
then you can
let the true owner of the problem take responsibility.
You are empowered to carry on with your life
and focus on what is really important,
refusing to fall into a trap.
Sometimes, God shows us problems that other people have
in order to free us from our pride
and take us to the next level of spiritual maturity.
2) When you have a
problem,
the second thing you can do
is to determine U - UNIQUENESS.
You can ask yourself,
“Has anyone, in the history of the world
ever had this problem before?”
Most likely, the answer is going to be yes.
Almost everything we face as Christian people
isn’t new.
The moment we became a Christian,
God made us part of his family.
There are literally millions of brothers and sisters
who have the potential of
sharing their faith, their friendship,
and hard won experience with you.
In Galatians 6:2 the Bible says:
Carry each other's burdens,
and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Dear ones, you are never alone.
In your struggle to be a faithful disciple of Jesus
there are people just waiting to talk to you,
give you support, and speak a word of wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes 4:12 the Bible says,
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
God honors Christians who
support and pray for each other.
Maybe, what God wants you to do
is simply learn to share and pray
with other Christians.
That’s why we have a church!
3) My last practical
step is this:
When you have a problem,
the third thing you can do
is to determine T - TONNAGE.
You can ask yourself,
“How big is this, really?”
Sometimes we get so wrapped up
with problems
that they seem bigger than they really are.
For instance,
let’s say you are stuck in traffic.
Maybe you are waiting in line
at the Chesapeake City bridge.
You are getting frustrated.
You want to drive down the left side of the road
and pass everyone in front of you.
That’s when you need to ask,
“How big is this problem really?
I don’t see any skeletons behind the wheels
of other cars,
so chances are, sometime today
this line is going to move,
and sometime today,
I am going to get across that bridge.”
If you had to weigh your problem,
what scale would you use?
Ounces, Pounds, or Tons
Here is a fact:
God is so powerful,
that size doesn’t matter with him!
A problem of several tons
is like a feather to him.
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said,
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Conclusion
O - U - T OUT
Ownership – “Whose problem is this?”
Uniqueness – “Has anyone, in the history of the world
ever had this problem before?”
Tonnage – “How big is this, really?”
It’s not easy, but it is extremely satisfying
to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
That is why, for Christ's sake,
I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,
in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Amen.