Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me – 2 Corinthians 12:9

It is a concept we have not understood. God works through meekness—a state of strength under control. When we learn this truth, we make ourselves ready for His use as His preferred instrument for revealing His Lordship and power in this world.

God holds something from us to make us dependent on Him. He keeps some capabilities in reserve to make us see how much we need Him. And when we kick cans around to display our entrusted power, God brings us down and cuts us to size to reveal Himself as the only King in the universe, who alone deserves worship and praise. For He shares His glory with no one. His goal has always been to reveal Himself to the world as the loving God who calls people back to Himself before they perish in hell. Yes, I said hell—a word we contemporary people do not want to hear.

Think about Abraham. Consider owning something you cannot call your own or use as you want. How tantalizing that is! But that was the experience of Abraham. God promised Abraham so much he could behold, yet God told him He had reserved them for his descendants some four hundred and thirty years in the future (Genesis 15:4-6, 13-16).

Moses was powerful in Pharaoh’s court (Acts 7:14). Though he was God’s chosen instrument for the deliverance of his people, Sinai had to do a job on him before he received the mantle of divine power for the Exodus (Exodus 3:1-10).

Ai taught Joshua the same lesson (Joshua 7:3-5). And talk about Samson, Gideon, David, and Elijah. They all went through God’s treadmill of humility before revealing His power in their lives.

That is the lesson of Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). Many people have caught glimpses of heaven and written about their experiences. But God forbid Paul from talking about his own. Think about being gagged after such a transcendent experience. Only the thorn, an instrument of Satan as Paul calls it, could humble him. Paul accepted his weakness and acknowledged it (8-10). The lesson is that no one can do anything unless God allows it, for we are powerless without Him. Hasn’t Covid-19 taught the world this lesson so clearly?

We are strong only when we admit our weaknesses before the Almighty God. He perfects His power in our weakness. The good thing is that He gives us the grace to sustain us in His Boot Camp—his training grounds, filled with pain, denial, and suffering.

So, do you have a problem? Have the dark clouds of life overwhelmed you? Has your situation become unbearable? Welcome to the training camp of God. If He did not spare His one and only Son from that training (Philippians 2:6-11), what makes us think we should escape it? Only let us fall on His grace to carry us through it, and we will be in excellent company of saints for future glory in Christ. Amen!