Paul, Pt. 12: “My Grace is Sufficient for You”

MY GRACE IS SUFFICENT FOR YOU (2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10)
Do you know that people who think they are treated unfairly are more likely to suffer a heart attack or chest pain? According to a report published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, those who thought they had experienced the worst injustice were 55% more likely to experience a coronary event than people who thought life was fair.

The study was funded primarily by health agencies in the British and U.S. governments. One of the largest and longest of its kind, it examined medical data from 6,081 British civil servants. In the early 1990s, they were asked how strongly they agreed with this statement: “I often have the feeling that I am being treated unfairly.” Unlike previous studies, the subjects were questioned before they showed any signs of cardiovascular disease. That way, the results weren’t skewed by people who thought life was unfair because they were already sick.

The subjects were tracked for an average of 10.9 years. In that time, 387 either died of a heart attack, were treated for a nonfatal attack or diagnosed with angina (chest pain). The researchers found that the rate of cardiac events among civil servants who reported “low levels” of unfair treatment was 28% higher than for those who had no complaints. People who reported “moderate unfairness” saw their risk rise by 36%. (“People Who Feel Wronged Can Really Take it to Heart,” Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2007)

The list of people saying or added to the “life is unfair” game on the internet over ten pages of search includes people who face rebuilding their homes, being alone in one’s 50s, a person with a skin disease, disable people, women, the poor, and the overweight person. Many say life is unfair to me, or life is unfair to all.

How do we handle a seemingly unfair situation in life? How do we ensure that our passion and purpose in life is not dimmed or snuffed by the problems of life? What spiritual resources are available in Christ when the physical body fails?

Embrace Your Weakness; Don’t be Embarrassed of It
7 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. (2 Cor 12:7)

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: “I don’t believe that God exists.” “Why do you say that?” asked the customer.

“Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving a God who would allow all of these things.” The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: “You know what? Barbers do not exist.” “How can you say that?” asked the surprised barber. “I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!”

“No!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.” “Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me.”

“Exactly!” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don’t go to Him and do not look for Him. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

Paul’s struggle to accept his physical condition is heightened in the light of the Corinthian church backdrop, with her carnal, childish and conceited believers. His stress on spiritual growth was often disrupted and hijacked by their sharing of grandiose spiritual activities. Their fixation and obsession were on the talk of visions (derived from “eye” in Greek - Luke 1:22, 24:23) and revelations or “apokalupsis” in Greek (v 1), signs, wonders and miracles (v 12). The apostle set them up by claiming he, too, can boast about knowing inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell (v 4).

“Boasting” (v 1, 5, 5, 6, 9), or Greek for “glorying” or ‘rejoicing,” can be in a good or a bad sense – negative or positive. Legitimate boasting in the Bible includes glorying God (Rom 5:2, 5:11, 1 Cor 1:31, Gal 6:14), persevering faith (Rom 5:3, 2 Thess 1:4), enthusiastic giving (2 Cor 9:2), growing believers (2 Cor 10:15) and exercising humility (James 1:9) – basically, never in sensational claims or outward appearance. Inferior boasting in the Bible includes bragging about the law (Rom 2:23), boasting of works (Eph 2:9) and of tomorrow or longevity (James 4:15-16).

There is no gain from boasting about gifts because there is no future in gifts (v 1). The word “gain” is “sum-phero,” from “joint” (sum-) and “carry” (phero). “Sumphero” literally means “carry together.” There is no gain from boasting because it is one-sided and not team-oriented, glorifying self and not God. It cannot be extended to or shared with friends or God. It has no long-term growth or potential. No one’s character benefits, including the boastful man.

Focusing on great revelations results in pride. NIV records the verb “becoming conceited” (v 7) once only, but Greek text mentions it twice, the second time at the end of the verse, as indicated by KJV, which adds “lest I should be exalted above measure.” Besides appearing twice in this verse, the word occurs one other time in the Bible as “exalting oneself.” (2 Thess 2:4) This single Greek verb comprises of a preposition “huper” for above, over or beyond “airo,” to take up, raise up or lift up. The latter is a neutral word for “taking up” one’s cross and follow Jesus (Matt 16:24) and for taking His yoke upon self and learning from Him (Matt 11:29), but once the “huper” is added, the person on an ego trip is over the top, on a roll and out of range. “Become conceited” (huper-airomai) is, ironically and unfortunately, linked to the word “great” (huperbole) in the same verse (v 7). Sadly, the proud man does not see that the revelations are not great, but merely “exaggerated” (huperbole).

Paul has a thorn in the flesh. No one is sure what Paul suffered from but suggestions offered include temptation, opposition, disability and ailments such as ophthalmia, malaria, migraine headaches, and epilepsy. A thorn (skolops) is a Greek slang for a disability. It literally joins the root words for “leg” (skelos) and “sight” (optanomai) together. The word could mean the limb or the eye, or a handicap. But the next word is “buffet/torment” means “to rap with the fist,” the same word for Jesus who was “struck with fists” (Matt 26:67, Mark 14:65), for Paul who was “brutally treated” (1 Cor 4:11) and slaves who “receive a beating” (1 Peter 2:20) from their masters. Even the great Paul was not spared from physical suffering, pain and affliction. Worse, it comes from Satan, not God, which He allows. Note that God is our trust, not our tempter. So Paul does not consider his handicap a punishment or a plague.

Exchange Your Weakness; Don’t be Embittered with It
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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. (2 Cor 12:8-9)

Bob and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord’s team was playing Satan’s team. The Lord’s team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs (one person left for the enemy to retire). They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate whose name was Love. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because Love never fails.

The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faith works with Love. The next batter up was named Godly wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch. Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass: Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked, because Godly wisdom never swings at what Satan throws. The bases were loaded. The Lord then turned to Bob and told him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace.

Bob said “He sure doesn’t look like much!” Satan’s whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen. But Satan was not worried; his center fielder let very few get by. He went up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing on the ground; then it continued over the fence for a home run! The Lord’s team won.

The Lord then asked Bob if he knew why Love, Faith, and Godly Wisdom could get on base but could not win the game. Bob answered that he did not know why.
The Lord explained, “If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, faith and wisdom will get you on base, but only My Grace can get you home. My Grace is the one thing Satan cannot steal.”

The word “plead” (v 8) is basically “urge,” as Paul famously urged Roman believers to offer your bodies as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1). Paul wanted a handicap in life as much as he wanted a toothache. Although he was determined and dramatic, he was not desperate or disobedient in his urging; steadfast but not selfish; persistent but not pushy.

Believers live by faith and not by feelings, by grace and not by guts. The subtext in Paul’s statement on grace is contrasting grace or “charis” with gifts “charismata,” with the latter’s emphasis on great revelations (v 7). Grace is hard to define. Many say it is God giving us what we do not deserve. God’s strength enables the unable, empowers the powerless and encourages the discouraged. There are at least seven contrasts between grace and gifts. Grace is not a gift. It is more a blessing than a gift. There is reference to “gift in grace” (Rom 5:15) in the Bible, but not the “gift of grace.” Grace is not visible or outward - unlike gifts. Grace is an attribute of God; gifts are not. Grace is a virtue, but gifts are skills. Grace is for all, but gifts are apportioned by the Spirit. Grace is superior as it is the source of gifts (Rom 12:6). Finally grace breeds humility, but gifts cause pride.

The Greek word “sufficient” occurs only eight times in the Bible, translated elsewhere thrice each for “enough” (Matt 25:9, John 6:7, John 14:8) and “content” (Luke 3:14, 1 Tim 6:8, Heb 13:5) and once each for “sufficient”
(2 Cor 12:9) and “satisfied” (3 John 10).

The word “perfect” (teleioo) gives a wrong connotation. It means completing and finishing, having no lack, deficiency or shortage. This same word is translated as “over” (Luke 2:43), “reach my goal” (Luke 13:32), “finish” (John 4:34), “complete” (John 17:4) and “fulfill” (John 19:28). So perfect is not the absence of pain, but the presence of God’s peace; not freedom from adversity but freedom from anxiety. One’s weakness proves a person, not paralyze him. It completes him, not condemns him. A person is not defined by his success and power but by his steadfastness and perseverance. It does not matter how many times you fall down but how often you get up. How many times go we get up? The answer is more times than we fall down, one more time than we fall down and the next time we fall down.

Weakness is “strength-less’ in Greek, translated as “weakness” mainly in Paul’s letters (Rom 6:19, 8:26, 1 Cor 2:3, 15:43, 2 Cor 11:30, 12:5, 12:9, 12:10, 13:4) and in Hebrews (Heb 4:15, 5:2, 7:28, 11:34), but usually as “infirmities” (Matt 8:17), “sicknesses” (Luke 5:15, 13:12, John 11:4, Acts 28:9), “diseases” (Luke 8:2) and “illness” (Gal 4:13, 1 Tim 5:23) and once aberrantly for “crippled” (Luke 13:11) and “invalid” (John 5:5). So “weakness” is merely physical, not mental or emotional or psychological. It is a handicap but not a hurdle. Physical strength is the last thing to depend on because all flesh will eventually fail.

Power is not physical either. Strength is physical, but that’s not the contrast Paul uses. Power is not one’s ability but enablement, not one’s capability but capacity, not muscle but motivation. True biblical power is always having or gaining what you do not have to begin with. So suffering is unavoidable, but sorrow is; affliction is not optional, but anguish is; stress is acceptable, but distress is not.

Empower Your Weakness; Don’t be Ensnared by It
10 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 12:11-13)

Dr. Paul Brand, the well-known doctor the author, was raised in India. His parents were missionaries there. In his book, “In His Image,” he writes about his mother. When his mother was 75 years old, she was still walking miles every day, visiting the villages in the southern part of India, teaching the people about Jesus. One day, while the 75-year old lady was traveling alone, she fell and broke her hip. She lain on the road in pain for two days before some workers found her, loaded her into their jeep and drove 150 miles over rough roads to find a doctor who could set the broken bones. But the very bumpy ride damaged her bones so badly that her hip never completely healed. He said, “I visited my mother in her mud-covered hut several weeks after all of this happened. I watched as she took two bamboo crutches that she had made herself, and moved from one place to another with her feet just dragging behind because she had lost all feeling in them.”

Paul Brand said, “At age 75, with a broken hip, unable to stand on her own two legs, I thought that I made a pretty intelligent suggestion. I suggested that she retire.” He said, “She turned around, looked at me and said, ‘What value is that? If we try to preserve this body just a few more years and it is not being used for God, of what value is that?’…so she kept on working. She kept on riding her donkey to villages until she was 93 years old…and she continued to tell people about Jesus Christ until she died at age 95.”

Greek for “delight” (v 10) is eu-dokeo, or “well” (eu-) and “thinking” (dokeo), or to approve of, not merely accept or tolerable. “Weakness” is mentioned twice in verse 9 and once in verse 10, and “weak” once in verse 10. “Insult” is “hubris” (humbling) in Greek, its other two occurrences in the Bible is translated as disastrous (Acts 27:10) and damage (Acts 27:21). “Hardship” is “ana-gke’ in Greek, from two words – “repeat/constrain” and “bend/arm” (agkale). This word is as good a word in Greek for arm-twisting as one can find. “Persecution” is the same word for Paul’s hateful pursuit of Christians. “Difficulties” (steno-choria) literally means narrowing (stenos) of ground (chora), room or space. Put together, weakness is physical sickness, insult is emotional humiliation, hardship is bodily harm, persecution is intense activity, and difficulty is limited options.

Verse 10 (“am weak”) is the verb form for weakness: weak; strong is not physical (ichuros), but the word “dunatos” or powerful in a non-physical way. Examples of this kind of strength include living at peace with everyone (Rom 12:18), bearing with the failings of the weak (Rom 15:1) and keep one’s whole body in check, especially his tongue (James 3:2). It is strength in character, relationships and behavior. God is more interested in your temperament than your talents, in how you deal with things when you are gutted than when you are gifted.

Strength is never the strongest in the physical way. Some people have no power when it comes to snacks, soda or sweets. Power is stronger than strength in the same way greed is stronger than gold and love is more than emotion. It’s been said, “Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands --- and then eat just one of the pieces.”

Conclusion: It’s been said, “Pain is nothing compared to the emptiness that comes from quitting.” Have you thought about what you have and what you can do despite your situation or in your situation, rather than without your situation? Is there someone in the same boat you can hear out or help out? Do you rely on God to handle one thing at a time, take one step at a time and enjoy one day at a time?