When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong

Edward Griffin (1770—1837)
 

2 Corinthians 12:10
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak then I am strong!"

In Paul's absence from Corinth, false apostles had crept in, who charged him, among other things, with being a hireling, because he received a partial support from the churches. This put him upon vindicating himself and his ministry: and the supreme modesty with which he performed this task, is an example for all apologists for themselves. He does not boast of his heavenly call, his high authority, his many miracles, his superior eloquence, his unrivaled piety, and his equally unrivaled usefulness. If he must glory he chooses to glory in his infirmities, as attesting both his own sincerity and the power of Christ in the success of his ministry.

By infirmities and weaknesses, he means the same, and comprehends under them, not only his general insufficiency for the salvation of men—not only his feebleness of body, but the hunger, thirst, nakedness, watchings, weariness, reproaches, and persecutions, which he endured for Christ. The manner in which he boasts of these infirmities, will appear from the following specimens.

1 Corinthians 4:9-13, "We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world!"

2 Corinthians 4:7-10, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."

2 Corinthians 6:4-10, "Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

2 Corinthians 11:23-30, "I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

Having then mentioned one, (meaning himself,) who had been "caught up to the third Heaven," he adds, "Of such a one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory but in my infirmities." And having alluded to the thorn in his flesh, (supposed to have been an impediment in his speech brought on him by his persecution at Lystra,) and to his thrice repeated prayer for its removal, he proceeds to state the answer and the effect on his own mind. "2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "But 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. 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. "

Thus his being an earthen vessel, by which the power of God was manifested in his success; his thorn in the flesh, which removed him still further from the possibility of accomplishing anything himself; his poverty, reproach, and extreme suffering; his subjection to the will of his enemies, against whom he had no power to protect himself—(all which, while it attested his sincerity, showed him, not as a mighty conqueror marching through the the world and prostrating nations by the power of his own arm, but as a weakling subduing the armored champions with a sling and a stone, in the name of the God of the armies of Israel—all which, while it brought to his own mind a sense of other insufficiency and dependence, manifested to others the power of Christ in the triumphs of the Gospel,) his hunger, thirst, weariness, and exposure to every danger; which showed him, not a giant fortified with inherent strength—but a poor feeble worm unable to sustain himself. That violent persecution, which, borne with unresisting meekness and triumphant faith, proved the means, by convincing thousands, of extending the kingdom of Christ. That rupture with mankind—that dissolution of alliance with the world—by which was wrought in him a deadness to the things of time and sense and a vigorous life of faith—these were the infirmities in which he delighted, as means to awaken in himself a sense of his own nothingness and dependence and to carry him out to Christ—as means to render the power of his beloved Savior more manifest in his support and success.

To what a high and heroic frame had this holy man arrived, that he could take pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, persecutions, and distresses for Christ's sake. It is as much as ordinary Christians can do to submit to these things. But to take pleasure in them—to consider them no longer a misfortune, but a constituent part of God's blessing—a source, not of misery, but of joy; this is passing strange.

How far is religion, in her loftier flights, above the operations of nature. Ask the men of the world in what they take delight, and they will tell you: In the absence of all sorrow—in the approbation of all around us—in the highest portion of worldly good.

But here is one who takes pleasure in reproaches, in poverty, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. Happy man! He is proof against all the evils which are such a terror to others. All the ills of life have lost their power on him. The curse which smote this valley of tears, is to him repealed. He has nothing more to fear for time or eternity. What is a bane to others proves food and drink to him. The greatest troubles only increase his joy. He has found indeed the philosopher's stone which turns everything to gold!

I have heard of heroes who could support misfortune without complaint; but never, until Christianity showed them to me, did I hear of men who could take pleasure in affliction—who could take pleasure in such a catalogue of woes as has been recited.

The reason which the apostle gives for this marvelous joy, is contained in a still more marvelous paradox; "When I am weak then I am strong." This, on every principle of nature, is not only a paradox but a falsehood. But grace and nature are just so opposite. In the kingdom of grace men:
ascend by lying down,
conquer by submitting,
save their life by losing it, and
are the strongest when most weak!

In this paradox there is a double meaning. The first meaning is, I take pleasure in being an earthen vessel, in having a thorn in the flesh, and in undergoing all these degradations and sufferings for Christ, because they give opportunity for his power to be glorified in me. When they press upon me most, his strength is most conspicuous in my support. I never feel my graces so active nor my spiritual joys so high, as when I am suffering for his sake. This truth is illustrated in the history of that apostle. When did he ever sing so rapturously as when he and Silas lay bound and mangled in the inner prison? And his ascent to the third Heaven is thought to have been at the time when his body lay overpowered under the persecutions at Lystra.

This accords with the ordinary experience of Christians. "A child of God," says one, "seldom walks so much in the view of God as his God, as when, in his outward circumstances, he walks in darkness and sees no light." This is eminently the case when his sufferings are for the cause of God.

When were the three Hebrew children in Babylon visited by a heavenly guest, but when they were walking in the furnace for their adherence to the truth? When did Daniel experience so much of the care of his God, as when, for his fidelity to him, he was in the lion's den? And when are ordinary Christians so strong in their faith and patience, in their hopes and joys, as when they are suffering for Christ?

But the paradox contains another meaning, to which the transition is easy. When I most feel my own weakness and go out to Christ for strength, then am I the most strong. This meaning must have lain by the side of the other in the mind of such a man as Paul. He could not have been weak under the pressure of outward trials, without a corresponding sense of his insufficiency and dependence. In his case the two ideas were inseparable, and they must be considered inseparable in the declaration of the text. It is as though he had said, I take pleasure in all my sinless infirmities and trials; for when these press upon me, then I most feel my own weakness, and this carries me out to Christ and casts me upon his strength; so that I am never so strong in the power and grace of my Redeemer, nor the occasion of glorifying these attributes so much, as when, from the pressure of outward afflictions, I most feel my own weakness.

A proud dependence on ourselves—that stiffness which will not dissolve into the feelings of a child dropping into a parent's arms—is the great obstruction to our salvation. On the other hand, that conscious feebleness, guiltiness, baseness, nothingness, which looks up to the grace and power of God as the only ground of salvation; which rests on him as the heart that dictates and the arm which executes every part.

As the Deliverer who first planned to pluck us from the pit, and performs what he planned;
as the Father who pardons us, not for anything in us, but for reasons existing in the glorious Trinity;
as the Sanctifier who hourly renews our strength;
as the arm which clears our way and guides and carries us along;
as the Shepherd that gathers us in his arms and carries us in his bosom;
this it is to be weak—this it is to be strong.

"In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth." He created them for the theater of that redemption which had been settled by covenant from eternity past. Before man was formed or angels made, God, from the boundless benevolence of the Godhead, undertook the salvation of this world—undertook to draw out from their own fullness all that was necessary to complete the amazing work—undertook to make atonement—to call, awaken, convert, and pardon sinners, to sanctify, protect, and save believers, to begin, carry on and complete the salvation of every one of the elect.

The righteousness, strength, and universal guardianship, are not only freely offered, but secured by a determinate choice—by a purpose of earnest love which will not be disappointed. Like a mother who originates all the arrangements respecting her weak and froward infant, forces upon it her effectual care, and leaves nothing to depend on its own wisdom or strength.

You have heard from the records of his grace, how the heavenly Leader:
goes before his people,
clears their way,
spreads about them his protecting shield,
supports them when faint,
strengthens them when weary,
stimulates them when sluggish,
reclaims them when wayward,
keeps off their enemies, and
keeps down their corruptions.

He is himself:
the first mover in every step they take,
the ground and dispenser of their pardon,
the defender who stands answerable for their protection against every foe and danger,
the manager of all their minor interests, who daily executes with his own hand the three great promises:
  that no evil shall befall them,
  that no good shall be withheld from them,
  that all things shall work together for their benefit.

When he sees they need strength, he gives it—gives it of his own accord, and gives them strength to ask it.

When he sees that they need wisdom, he gives it.

When he sees that they need pardon, he gives it.

When he sees that they need solace, worldly good, affliction, he gives it all.

All their springs are in him.

Nothing originates in their prayers; their prayers originate in him.

Nothing originates in their prudence; their prudence originates in him.

He works all their works in them. When they cannot guide themselves, he takes the business out of their hands. He blocks up their way and deranges their plans and turns them back sorely against their will, and, heedless of their frettings and cryings, saves them in spite of themselves. All this is provided in the everlasting covenant. That is our anchor of hope!

"Amidst temptations sharp and long,
 My soul to this dear refuge flies."

We are weak, but he is mighty.

We are foolish, guilty, rebellious, but he is our "wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

We have no other way but to cast ourselves into his arms as helpless infants. In all our conflicts, in all our guilt—we can only resort to God's strength, to God's grace, to God in Christ as our all in all.

And this is the spirit which it is our life to cherish. This is the weakness by which we are made strong. We never shall cease to lean upon ourselves, until we despair of our own strength. We never shall rest upon Christ, until we cease to lean upon ourselves. We never shall draw strength from Heaven, until we rest upon Christ. Never therefore until we despair of our own strength, shall we be strong in the Lord. And in the same proportion as we feel our utter weakness and go out of ourselves to rest on his strength, we shall be strong. He is the vine, we are the branches. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can we except we abide in him." The very bond of union, is this dependence on him for life. In proportion as we feel this dependence, the streams of life flow from him to us; in proportion as this sense abates, we wither like a separated branch. "He fills the hungry with good things, and the rich he sends empty away."

This childlike sense of weakness and dependence is unlike that temper which sinks into sluggish repose and leaves God to do both his work and ours. Was Paul inactive while he was weak? Was ever any mere man since the fall strung up to higher exertions? His "labors more abundant," his "journeying often," his "weariness and painfulness," are put into the very definition of that weakness which constituted his strength.

The Christian life is not sluggish rest. We must wrestle, fight, run, and endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. But the point is, to feel, in all this exertion, that we are using the strength of another. God's agency does not set aside our agency, but puts it in motion, like a wheel within a wheel. He works all our works in us; but if our works are not done, it proves that he has not wrought. We must "continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose."

This dependence is full of trust. It is not a morbid sense of weakness which resorts to God reluctantly. It is a consciousness of what we are in view of the whole work of redemption—in view therefore of what God is in that work. It does not despair except of help from ourselves, but casts the soul on the mediation and fullness of Christ, and rises to a sweet and triumphant confidence in him.

From what has been said we learn:

1. That we have no reason to fear any affliction which may come upon us for a wise and faithful adherence to the Gospel. The weaker we are in this respect, the stronger we shall be in Christ. No labors, no sacrifices, no reproaches ought to be dreaded. We should hug the cross, "and count it all joy when" we "fall into divers temptations." Do we not wish above all things to enjoy more of God and to be more like him? And shall we shrink from trials which are sent to bring us to both parts of this salvation? Instead of fearing, let us comfort our hearts and go forward with undaunted zeal to meet a world in arms.

2. We see the vital importance of a humbled child-like spirit, free from all self-sufficiency, full of a sweet sense of dependence, of filial confidence, and willing to be supported and led by a parent's care. This brings us directly to the source of all life and joy, and is the only temper that can bring us there. In this spirit of dependence and trust let us daily go forth to our work, and learn habitually to say with David,

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower."

"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me."

And then from sweet experience, we may add, in the seraphic language of Isaiah, "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength!"

In all our prayers and exertions for the kingdom of Christ, let us be sure to go forth under this deep sense of weakness and absolute dependence. Without this we never shall work any deliverance in the earth. Our "strength is to sit still"—to refrain from Egypt and Assyria, and to confide in the living God. In this point chiefly he is jealous for his honor. If we ever succeed, like Elijah on Carmel, to unstop the windows of Heaven, we must be far more conscious of this utter weakness and dependence than Christians ordinarily are. How much dependence, do you think, Elijah placed on an arm of flesh, when he "came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant!" And when he retired to the top of Carmel "and put his face between his knees," and sent his servant seven times to look for the western cloud—how much confidence, do you think, he had in that little lump of clay which was called Elijah? Could his dependence or his trust in God have been greater? And had it been otherwise, would the fire have fallen from Heaven "and consumed the—sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water—in the trench"? or would the heavens have gathered blackness and poured out abundance of rain?

O my brethren, what almighty energy is wrapped up in this dependence and trust when we put our hands to the kingdom of Christ. I would say of it as David said of Goliath's sword, "There is none like that; give it to me." For lack of these heavenly attributes, all our strength is withered, and all our labor is lost. We go forth like the Midianite army and fill all the valley "as grasshoppers for multitude;" but one shout of faith, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" will do more execution than the whole.

O that this lesson might now be written with sun-beams on our heart forever, and it would do more for our usefulness in the kingdom of Christ than all other things. This is the great secret that was to be discovered; this is the grand talisman that will accomplish all things. Supported by its power, "he who is feeble—shall be as David, and the house of David shall be as God." They "shall say unto this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea," and "it shall be done," "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me:" and this is the heavenly amulet about the neck and heart, which conveys the power, "When I am weak then I am strong."