"STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS"

                      For  when i am weak, then I am strong

                                    2 Corinthians 12 :10

Strength is an admirable quality. Everyone wants to be strong; no one wants to be weak. The physically strong always have an advantage over the physically weak. The world relies on such strength. Nations vie with each other for military might They depend on the strength of arms to secure supremacy in the world and often use their strength to suppress the weak. Athletes train strenously to develop strength, because the strong are the winners; the weak are losers.

   

        What could Paul possibly mean when he says, "When I am weak, then I am strong"? How are these two opposites compatible? It is another of Paul's profound paradoxes. Just as he found joy in his sufferings, so he finds strength in his  weakness. What an amazing display of God's grace!

        It is the grace of God that makes us forget whatever human strength we may have depend entirely upon the strength supplied by the Lord. The strong think they have no need of help and do not seek it. The weak know their need and lay hold of the Almighty's strength.

        The accomplishments of the  great heroes of faith were not the result of the human strengths these individuals possessed. Moses could only point to his weaknesses, the abilities he, acked when the Lord called upon him to lead his people out of Egypt. Gospel did Moses say, "I have led you of slavery." It was always, "The Lord with his strength, with his mighty hand has brought us out if Egypt."

         The godpel did not prevail because it originated in the great powers of the first century, in the learning of Greece and in the strength of Rome. It originated in the weakness of Palestine and Galilee. As Paul declared, "God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." The weakness if God is stronger than man's strength. In the weakness of his sufferings the strength of Christ was made perfect. His cross is the strength of Christianity.

         The Lord manifests his strength in our weaknesses, too. The trials we endure, the sufferings we experience, the crosses we are called upon to bear display the grace of him who invites us, "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and i will give you rest."May we cast all our anxiety upon him because he cares for us, and when we duffer according to his will, cimmit ourselves to our faithful creator and continue to do good. Then in our weaknessess we are strong.