II Corinthians 12:7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 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.
God had chosen Paul as his steward with the Gospel for the Gentiles. God had revealed things to him that were (and still are) overwhelming. Knowledge has a tendency to puff us up, make us think we are better, and separate us from those whom God has joined us with to build each other up. Paul knew this. But when we are truly serving God, He will do everything possible to keep us useable for him - even allow suffering to come our way. The key word neslted in this passage is "grace" - the God-given ability to do what we cannot do on our own. God gives us grace by which we can be saved, we can serve, and we can suffer. He makes it clear in each case that it is Him, lest we begin to think we can do any of it on our own. Suffering wears us down and weakens us, so we can see His power at work within us - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The key to handling suffering is not it's removal, but a receptivity and an embracing of the grace to see us through it, and to see God glorified in it.
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