Sunday, July 19, 2026
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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Historical Context
Paul is doing something unusual here. Defending himself to a church that had started to doubt him, the Corinthians, he boasts about his weakness instead of his strength. He describes a lasting, painful affliction that he never names directly, and says he begged God three times to take it away. We genuinely do not know what the affliction was. People have guessed a physical illness, failing eyesight, fierce opposition, a recurring temptation, and the honest answer is that Paul never tells us.
What he does report is the answer God gave him in that moment. Whether the affliction ever lifted, the text does not say. What God did say was that his grace was enough, and that his power is made perfect in weakness. So Paul, against every instinct, decides to boast about the very thing he had wanted gone.
Reflection
This runs against how most of us operate. We hide our weak places and lead with the strong ones. Paul says the weak place is exactly where he met God most clearly, not in spite of the affliction but through it.
What stands out is what it does not say. It does not say the affliction was good, or that Paul should be glad he suffered. It says God’s grace met him in it and did not run out. The promise is not that the hard thing gets removed. It is that there is a sufficiency available inside it that you might never find anywhere else.