When I am Weak…

                I really don’t like to be sick. It is nice to have “a” sick day once in a while; an excuse to stay in bed and rest. But when one day turns into two, then three, then a week; enough is enough. That has been my experience over the past week. Needless to say, being really sick drains a person of their energy and prohibits them from doing both the things they need to do and the things they want to do. Food does not taste good. Restless nights lead to exhaustion, which can lead to irritability. Being sick is just no fun.

                People who live with chronic illness often lead diminished lives. They expend all of their energy coping with their illness. There is little left over to enjoy the positive things of life. Like Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh, they live with a dark cloud constantly hanging over their head.

                Facing an extended illness is discouraging, but it does not have to diminish our lives. In fact, God often uses negative experiences, like an extended illness, to shape our lives. That was the case for the Apostle Paul. In 2 Corinthians, Paul recounts his own struggle with a chronic illness.

                 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. 2 Cor. 12:7-10

                There are at least four outcomes that God wants to accomplish from our facing extended times of illness or struggle.

                First, our struggles can be a corrective to our own self-sufficiency. Paul said that God gave him a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. Paul had accomplished some pretty amazing things. He had seen God use him in miraculous ways. He had experienced God’s power like few others had. All of these things could have led to pride and arrogance on the part of Paul. He could have gotten an inflated view of himself. So God popped the bubble, and showed Paul just how weak he really was.

                We all face the danger of becoming self-absorbed. We can begin to see God as our servant, doing our bidding, instead of the other way around. This was definitely an issue Paul struggled with, both for himself and for others. In at least two of his other letters, he specifically challenged people not to get an inflated view of themselves. God will often use illness to bring us back to reality.

                Second, our struggles can remind us of who is really in control. Even if we don’t have an inflated view of ourselves, we can become over confident in our own strength and abilities. We can begin to trust in ourselves, rather than in God, to face the challenges of life. God reminded Paul that His grace was all that Paul needed to face the challenges of life. It was not about how strong Paul was, but about how strong God is. That is a lesson we all need to learn over and over again.

                Third, we can demonstrate the power and glory of God through our weakness. When we face on-going challenges with grace and confidence, we show the world that our faith is genuine. It does not crumble when things get rough. In fact, our faith shines brighter as our situation becomes darker. I have known a couple of people who were struck with terminal cancer, and faced it in the power of God. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, or becoming angry, they used their situation to bring glory to God.

                Fourth, God wants to use our struggles to help others. Paul made this clear at the very beginning of his second letter to the Corinthians.  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Cor. 1:3-4 Paul had won the right to speak into the lives of others, because he had been actively in the battle.

                Often, the best person to help someone through a particular struggle is someone who has gone through it themselves. There is an empathy that cannot be manufactured. Their words ring true and carry much more weight than the words of someone who has faced that struggle only in theory.

                Being sick for an extended period of time is not a blessing. But God can use it to be a blessing to us and to others. My current illness will pass (soon, I hope). It has not been fun, but I have seen God use it to encourage the faith of others. So I give God praise that He has shown His strength through my weakness. (I’m still working on the “delighting in weakness” part.)