Devotion - Thursday, March 3

I continue to read from the 12th Chapter of II Corinthians. Paul continues to talk about "boasting."

He insists that he isn't trying to boast, but he wants to make sure that if there were to be any boasting, he would outshine the others. Weird, I know. But he is driving at a concluding point - if we are to boast, let us boast in but one thing, our dedication to Christ.

It is in the chapter that we get Paul's reference to his condition. Some have theorized that he suffered from epilepsy. Others that he had any one of a number of differing seizure disorders. What he says about it here, is that he was given a thorn in the flesh, to remind him of his dependence upon God. "Three times" he prays that it might be removed from him, but it is not.

He ends with one of the most paradoxical statements in all of history - ""For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Paul understands that any strength, found solely in ourselves, is fleeting. We cannot maintain it; we cannot prevent it from eroding. And, we are likely to later discover someone who is stronger. Flouting our strength encourages persons to challenge us and attempt to prove they are stronger. This interaction necessitates someone winning and someone loosing.

True strength, Paul's paradoxical statement informs us, is found in God. True strength is the openness to allowing God's strength to be our own.

If we were to boast, let us boast only in our weakness, in our openness to allowing God to direct our days and guide our paths.