“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 Cor. 12:10

It’s likely that somewhere in the United States this month, that in some office or human resources department, an employee will have his or her performance evaluation. We’ve all been through them, and we always hope they end with a pat on the back and a raise in pay…but not always. Here are a few actual quotes from various job performance reviews.

Quote, “I would not allow this employee to breed.” “This employee has delusions of competence.” “The employee sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.” And finally, “This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.”

Yikes! I sincerely hope that none of your performance reviews ever ended like that!  I never liked going through those job reviews back in the days when I was an engineer. I especially disliked the part where they’d make you do a self-assessment and list your strengths and weaknesses. I mean, what are we supposed to say? When filling out your strengths you didn’t want to sound too much like Superman because then they’d give you a ton more work to do, and weaknesses? Who wants to admit that they’re not up to par? Who wants to go on record saying that they’re weak? Who wants to say that they aren’t practically perfect in every way? Why would anyone give the boss a reason not to give you a raise?

            So, yeah, at the end of the day I think we’d all agree that strength is good, and weakness is bad. We’d much prefer to identify with being strong, and as a result, we learn from an early age to cover up anything about us that could be seen as a weakness.

            But interestingly St. Paul in the text at the top of this page tells us that he boasts in his weakness. Huh?

            Anyone who knows Paul’s story knows that he was the greatest evangelist in the history of the Church. That he did more for Christ than perhaps anyone who ever lived. Yet rather than boast about any of those things, he instead rejoices in his weaknesses and refers to something he calls “a thorn in his flesh.”

            We can speculate all we want as to what this aliment is…but the bottom line is we will never know. It could have been a physical issue, a mental issue, perhaps a spiritual issue, or a tortured conscience. Paul prayed that God would remove this affliction, but God’s answer was no…

            So, what did the apostle do in response? Did he complain and whine? Did he lose his faith? Did he leave the church? Nope, he instead chose to boast in his aliment! In his weakness.

            Why? Because it would have only been natural for him to be a Christian if its walk was an easy one, but life isn’t always easy, but when folks see us with a strong unwavering faith even in times of adversity…what an amazing witness to our faith that we fully believe that the problems of this life do not even come close to comparing to the glories to come for the believer!

            There is a good lesson for us in Paul’s approach to his affliction. God may not take away our troubles. God may allow bad things to happen to us. But there is one thing we do have, one thing we can cling to, and that’s God’s grace, which is seen in His love, His forgiveness, and our eternal inheritance.

            There is no way for us to predict how God’s power might be revealed to us in troubling times, but what I can assure you is that God’s power will be more apparent to you than it is in times of prosperity. Perhaps it will be a miracle, but more likely God’s grace will be manifested in such things as a courage that you never had before, or it will come in a peace of mind and a calm that you’ve never experienced before. Perhaps your “thorn” will open opportunities for you to share your faith? Who knows?

            But the point of all this is simply this…Christ has overcome our sins and death for us…and we have heaven to look forward to. So let us not dwell on life’s temporary problems, but rather on eternal life’s glory and if you feel like you need to boast about something in your life…boast that in Christ your sins are forgiven!

Until next month….

Pastor Roloff