Grace
A few years ago, while working out, I learned that lifting weights did not in fact build your muscles. But it actually tears them down, or weakens them, and then your body rushes in to rebuild and strengthen them to allow your muscles to be stronger. I think Paul would agree. God is assuring him that through all his trials, he would receive adequate strength to not only survive, but actually prosper. The strength is not from Paul, but from the Lord. Grace!
God’s kingdom is an upside-down kingdom. Where we think and rely on our natural abilities, his way is to provide us his supernatural strength and grace to reveal his glory. What are you struggling with recently or maybe all your life? As Paul, I am sure you have prayed about them, even asking, like Paul, for God to take them away. But God does not always work that way. His ways are not our ways scripture tells us.
Strength
If this truth in Corinthians is to be believed, then maybe you are better off prayerfully asking for his grace and strength. Seems like it is saying he will come in and provide whatever is needed for your good and his glory. It has been said ‘that every bundle of trials we encounter comes wrapped in sufficient grace’. God majors in strengthening your weaknesses. Believing this, you can boast or rejoice like Paul in your infirmities, knowing that “when I am weak, then I am strong”. Why, because Christ’s power will be resting on you. He loves you immeasurably and knows what you need far more than you. His grace for you emanates from the power of the cross.
