2 Corinthians 12:9

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But God 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.

By nature we are complainers. Our complaining stems from our selfish nature. In our selfishness we think that everything should go as we think it should, and when it doesn't we complain. When we get saved and turn our lives over to God this selfish nature does not just disappear. It takes work to get past it.
We still want life to be easy and anytime something does not go our way it can be a struggle not to complain. As we draw closer to God our selfish desires begin to leave, but it takes awhile.

Often times we look inside ourselves and see areas where we struggle or face temptation. In an effort to make our lives easier we pray that God will take the temptation or struggle. “Lord, help me not to struggle in that area,” we might say.

It is not wrong to want to overcome a struggle, but we need to remember that Jesus never told us that life would be easy. So often we are asking God to make life easy for us when really He just wants us to come to Him and be totally reliant on Him.

Don’t misunderstand me, I am in no way saying that we shouldn't pray to God for help to face temptation. Paul prayed that prayer and as we look at this verse we see him getting an answer that we usually don’t want to hear, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

God is telling us that He has already given us what we need to make it through our situation. It’s already been done. Really that’s good news, but if that is the case why is this ‘thing’ still a problem? I've asked myself that question many times over the years.

Here’s my thoughts on the matter. Most of the time when we are asking God to help us in a situation we are still thinking we can take the lead as we go through it. We are asking for God’s help when really we need to be surrendering that area to Him completely. The problem lies in the fact that we do not want to let it go.

If God’s power is made perfect in weakness then that means in order for His power to be made perfect in us then those ‘things’ are still our weaknesses. Paul doesn't pray that God turns his weaknesses to strengths. Instead he says that he will boast in his weaknesses, because only through them can Christ’s power rest on him.

If we want God’s strength to shine through us we must first admit we are weak and then surrender ourselves to God. Then we must trust Him to carry us through whatever we face. Only then can His power be made perfect in us.

2 Corinthians 11:30

2 Corinthians 11:30 - If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

It is only when we are weak that we can truly be made strong. Paul tells us that the only thing he will boast about is his weakness. What we must understand is that Christ cannot work in our lives until we admit we are weak. If we don’t think we need help we will never ask for it. And Jesus will never come into our life until we ask Him.
This applies to our life as a whole, but also to each individual area. Sometimes we ask Him to come into our life because we see that we need salvation, but then we keep certain things from Him. For some reason we think that we have certain things under control (or just aren’t ready to give them up) so we don’t surrender those areas to Him.
We must understand that even in our strongest moment we are still weaker than God’s weakest moment. If we really look at our life we will see there are not any areas that we can handle on our own and we need His help. Until we admit that we will never truly be strong. That is why Paul says, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”
Paul understood that in His own ability everything he did showed weakness and he needed help. When he brought light to his weakness it allowed God’s power and glory to shine through him all the more.
For us we must stop thinking that we can do things on our own and give all we are to God. It is only when we surrender to Him that His power can shine through us..

2 Corinthians 11:30

2 Corinthians 11:30 – If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

           What do you boast about? I know if I were to boast it would be about the things that I am good at. If I had a skill or talent I would want others to know it. It’s natural. You have something that you are good at you want to show how good you are, and beyond that you also want to tell them. Now, as far as the showing, that is good. We ought to do our best and excel in all we do. God has given you talents and abilities that He wants you to use, but when it comes to boasting, be careful.

           It’s ok to be confident in your ability to do something, but boasting generally comes from pride, and pride takes the focus away from God. That is where the issue comes in. When we are boasting of the things we excel at we are giving ourselves the credit and building ourselves up. Proverbs says, “Pride goes before destruction,” and we don’t want that. Also we later see Peter telling us to “humble ourselves before God and He will lift us up.”

Do not exalt yourself; let God do it. Paul tells us here that if he is going to boast, he will boast in his weaknesses. When we boast in our weaknesses it keeps us from getting prideful, and it gives God the opportunity to be glorified through us. In those areas where we are weak God will make us strong.

Now when we boast we can boast in the Lord and say, “See this thing that God did. Even though in my ability I messed it up, God came through and made it happen.” He is here to help us and strengthen us, but we must keep our focus on Him. He is the reason we excel; He is the reason we have talents and abilities. When we are weak, He will make us strong.