If your life is anything like mine you have a million responsibilities to juggle like work, school, a social life, involvement in church, clubs and the list goes on. At the end of day, you may be left feeling drained, weak and insufficient because you can’t seem to keep up with it all. Nowadays, it’s rare for people to boast in their weaknesses, especially in our American culture where it is looked down upon if you’re not a master of everything. Then why does the apostle Paul encourage Christians to boast in their weaknesses and shortcomings?

In 2 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul describes God’s provision through his thorn in the flesh. It says, “a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 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. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). In this passage, you can hear Paul crying out for his challenging situation to be taken away.

But God has a better plan for him. Instead of removing difficult circumstances from Paul’s life, God provides a way to overcome them through strengthening Paul. God always has a perfect solution and He makes that clear when He says “my power is made perfect in weakness." Because of God’s grace we can find our strength and contentment in our shortcomings. Grace meets our needs and Paul’s needs because it expresses God’s acceptance and pleasure in us. So take a deep breath. Relax and rest in the abundance of God’s grace for us. As 2 Corinthians 13:9 says, “For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong.”