Overflowing Power in Weakness
John Son
2 Corinthians 12:7–10
Introduction
Is there something in your life you have brought before the Lord—something that limits you, or causes you pain—and yet, despite your prayers, God has not taken it away?
Maybe it's a physical condition.
Maybe it's an ongoing battle with anxiety or depression — something that keeps returning just when you thought you were finally through it.
Maybe it's a relational strain that is on-going or a wound from a broken relationship that never fully healed.
Maybe it's a pattern — a temptation, a struggle, a way you're wired — that you have brought to God over and over and over again, and it is still there.
And for many of us, as real and heavy as the struggle itself is, what can become even more difficult is what unanswered prayer begins to do within us.
Because when we pray and nothing changes — when we bring the same thing to God again and again and the answer doesn't seem to come — something subtle starts to happen in our hearts. We begin to wonder - Is God listening? Does He actually care about this?
And sometimes, beneath all the wondering, something even harder begins to take root—a quiet bitterness, a slow settling of resignation, and a subtle withdrawal from the God didn’t answer in the way we needed.
If that is where you are today— or if you’ve ever been there—this passage is written for you! Because Paul—one of the most remarkable, Spirit-filled men of God in the history of the church — knows exactly what that feels like. He has something that’s causing him pain. He prays about it. He begs God to remove it. Three times. And yet God doesn’t grant it.
But what happens next — the way God speaks to Paul in that moment, and the way Paul receives it — is one of the most tender, hopeful, life-giving exchanges in all of Scripture. Because what Paul discovers is not that God was indifferent to his pain. What Paul discovers is that God was closer to him in that pain than he had ever imagined.
And that is what I want us to explore together this morning.
As we look at this passage, we want to focus on three important truths:
God Sometimes Allows What We Would Rather Avoid
God's Answer Is Not Always Removal — It Is Greater Presence
When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong
So Let's begin with the first truth:
God Sometimes Allows What We Would Rather Avoid
For Paul, the thing that he wanted to avoid—he calls it "a thorn in the flesh." V.7a - ⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh…
Now, He doesn't name what this thorn actually is. Scholars have debated for centuries what it might have been — it could have been a chronic illness, a physical condition, persistent opposition from enemies, some deep spiritual or emotional struggle. We don't know.
But I think this lack of detail is not accidental. Because by leaving it unnamed, he is making room for each of us to recognise our own thorn in his words.
But although he doesn’t name what that thorn is, He does tell us why that thorn was given to him. And the reason he tells us is: "to keep me from becoming conceited."
Now I want to be careful here, because this is the part of the passage that, if we're not listening carefully, it can actually deepen our bitterness rather than soften it. Because if we hear this and walk away with the idea that God is withholding comfort from us in order to keep us in our place — as if He is using our pain as a kind of management strategy — that will not bring us closer to Him, but rather push us further away.
So let's look at this more carefully.
Now, just a few verses earlier, Paul speaks of an experience that was truly extraordinary. He describes being caught up into the “third heaven”, into “paradise” as he calls it in v.2 and 3—where he encountered the presence and glory of God in a way that surpasses ordinary human language and imagination. This is what he refers to in verse 7 as “the surpassing greatness of the revelations.”
And yet, with that kind of experience came a very real spiritual danger - that Paul might walk away from it puffed up about himself - that he might become proud and self-assured, thinking that He is uniquely qualified, exceptionally gifted, even spiritually superior.
And left unchecked, that kind of posture would not only distort his identity before God— but it would eventually distance him from the very people he was called to serve.
That is why, God — who loves Paul, who knows Paul's heart more deeply than Paul knows it himself — allowed that thorn in Paul’s life to remain - as an act of protection.
So this is not the action of a harsh God managing a servant. This is the action of a loving Father who knows His child. A Father who says: I know what would happen to you if I removed this. I know what pride would do to you. I know where self-sufficiency would take you. And I love you too much to let you go there.
Think of it this way. A good parent doesn't give a child everything the child asks for. Not because they don't love the child — but precisely because they do. They can see what the child cannot yet see. They know that - what the child wants in the moment is not always what the child needs. And the most loving thing they can do is sometimes say — not yet, or not that, or I'm going to give you something better instead.
And that is the God we see in this passage. Not a God who is cruel. Not a God who is distant or indifferent. But a God who is intimate enough with Paul to know exactly where he is most vulnerable — and who loves him too much to leave him unprotected in that place.
And yet, even as we hear that, if we are honest—it doesn’t always feel that way when we are in the thick of it. Because when you are the one going through the pain, when you are the one carrying what has not changed— it can be very difficult to feel protected in the middle of it.
It is one thing to realize God’s good and perfect will in hindsight, but it’s a whole another to experience it in real time—when the answers are not coming, when the struggle continues, and when the relief you’ve been praying for doesn’t seem to be happening.
And for many of us, that is where the tension really lies. We may believe that God’s purposes are good, but that does not always make the pain easier to carry in the moment. It doesn’t always remove the ache of what we are still asking God to change.
But let me tell you, my brothers and sisters - that tension does not mean your faith is broken. It means you are human. It means you are honest. And it is in that place of tension that Paul discovers something unexpected - that:
2. God's Answer Is Not Always Removal — It Is Greater Presence
Now, it’s easy for us to assume that Paul’s perseverance through his thorn was somehow easier for him—perhaps because we tend to see him as a kind of “super-Christian.” But his struggle wasn’t something he simply accepted in a moment of calm reflection. It was something that pressed on him, and continued to weigh on him. And because of that, Paul does what any of us would do when we are carrying something we cannot change—he brings it to God.
So in v.8 he says - "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me."
Many commentators understand “three times” here as a figurative way of expressing repeated or earnest prayer—similar to how we might say, “I asked him three times,” not to count the exact number, but to emphasize persistence and intensity. But at the same time, it’s also possible to see it literally as three distinct seasons or moments of prayer, especially since it echoes Jesus praying in Gethsemane three times. In either case, the point is not precision in counting, but the weight of Paul’s persistence. This is not a passing request—it is earnest and persistent pleading before God over and over again.
And I love that Paul lets us see this. Because this is exactly what faith looks like in the presence of pain. This is not weak faith. This is not unbelief. This is what it means to bring your suffering honestly before God.
As Jesus himself prayed in Gethsemane—“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” repeatedly — our honest, desperate, repeated prayer in the face of suffering is not a sign of weak faith. In fact, it is one of the most faithful things a person can do.
So my brothers and sisters - don’t let anyone tell you that you pray too much about this, or that you should just accept it as it is, or that asking again and again means you don’t trust God. Don’t hesitate to bring your thorns to God. Bring it again and again.
So that’s what Paul did – He prayed over and over for this thorn to be removed. But here is the answer Paul receives - V.9a - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you…
Now, when we read that, I think many of us hear it as a gentle letdown. As if God is saying - "I know this is hard, but you'll be okay."
The expression “sufficient” sounds like barely enough. It sounds like getting by. It sounds like God is asking Paul to lower his expectations.
But that is not what the word means. The Greek word for sufficient here (ἀρκέω) — means fully adequate, completely and entirely enough. It carries the sense of abundance — of a supply that is not running thin, but overflowing.
God is not saying: "You'll manage." God is saying: " I am fully, completely, entirely enough for you in this. The thing you actually need is not the removal of the thorn — it is Me. I will not take it away. But I will be with you in it - not watching from a distance, not waiting for you to get through it — But In it. I am right here."
Now, if that’s all he said, it could still be disappointing. Because what we want in the moment is change, not just his presence, right?
But what we may be missing is what God’s presence truly means. His presence is not simply His way of keeping us company so that we are not alone. His presence is the very presence of His power— a real, active power at work in us, operating beyond the limits of our visible reality—far deeper than we can fully grasp
And that’s exactly what the Lord confirms for Paul in v.9. He says – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
The word "made perfect" here in original Greek (τελειόω) — means to be brought to its fullest, most complete expression.
God is saying that His power reaches its deepest, most visible, most undeniable form — not in our moments of competence and strength — but in the places where we come to the end of ourselves.
When we're managing everything well, it's easy to look at our lives and see ourselves. But when we are genuinely, unmistakably weak, when we are utterly powerless — and yet still standing, still loving, still trusting, still pressing on with grace that cannot be explained — we see not ourselves, but the almighty God who is working in power!
And when others see us rising above our weaknesses in this way, they don't just see us - they see something beyond us. They see a power that doesn't belong to us.
And perhaps that is exactly what the people in your life need to see!
Not a version you that has everything together - but a you who doesn't have everything together, and yet is still held — by a God whose grace is sufficient, whose presence is real and powerful!
And when that truth begins to settle into the heart, it doesn’t leave us the same. It begins to reshape the way we see our weakness altogether.
And this leads us to the final truth:
3. When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong
When God responds to Paul saying — My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness — Paul doesn't just hear God's answer. He receives it. He lets it do something in him. And what comes out the other side is not resignation — it is joy.
He says in the latter part of v.9 - "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
What a remarkable response this is! Because Paul did not arrive at this easily. This is not a man who simply shrugged at his pain and moved on. This is a man who prayed and pleaded and asked God to take it away multiple times. This is a man who knew what it was to desperately want relief and not receive it.
And yet — after God speaks — something shifts in him. Not the circumstances. Not the thorn. Something inside.
He says - I will boast in this. I will not be ashamed of the thorn. I will not hide it or manage it or pretend it isn't there. Because the thorn is where the power of Christ rests on me.
The word translated "rest" here (ἐπισκηνόω) — means to pitch a tent over something; to establish a dwelling. It's not a fleeting presence. It's not a God who passes through. It's a God who makes His home in that place.
Paul is saying- in my weakness, Christ sets up His tent. That is where He dwells most fully in me. That is where His presence is most real.
And then Paul says something that completely changes how we see our weakness – V.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.”
This is not Paul putting a positive spin on things. This is not denial or spiritual optimism.This is a man who has genuinely discovered something deeply true — something that the world around us will never understand, but becomes one of the most stabilizing realities of the Christian life once you find it.
Notice what he says— He says he is content. Not because those things are easy, not because they stop hurting - but because he now sees them through the lens of the gospel.
“For the sake of Christ…” That’s the key that changes everything.
Because Paul knows that the Christ he follows is not a Savior who remained distant from suffering—but one who entered fully into it. Jesus was rejected, mocked, beaten, and crucified. In the eyes of the world, He became weak, exposed and abandoned. And yet through that very weakness Jesus accomplished the power of God for salvation.
And now, Paul sees his own life being drawn into that same pattern.
Weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities—these are not signs that God has abandoned him. They are the very places where he is being conformed to Christ - the very places where the life of Jesus is being made visible in him.
The cross looked like defeat. It looked like weakness. And yet it was in that very place, that the power of God was most fully revealed.
Now this is good news for us!
Because the same power that was at work in Christ, and at work in Paul, is now at work in us! And that changes the way we carry what we carry!
We no longer endure it as something that weighs us down… but we carry it as a place where Christ is present, where His grace is sufficient, where His power is faithfully at work.
And so, just like Paul - we, too, can say—truthfully and sincerely:
I am content. Not because of the suffering itself, but because even in it, I am being drawn deeper into Christ—and Christ is being made more visible through me.
For when I am weak, then I am strong—because in that very place, the power of Christ rests upon me.
Conclusion
May brothers and sisters, I know that many of you in our congregation have been carrying some kind of thorn for a long time. And perhaps you’ve grown bitter towards God. Or maybe there is a quiet anger or a sense of withdrawal in you because He didn't answer the prayer you so desperately lifted up.
If that’s where you’re at today, let me gently remind you: The God that we find in our passage today is not a God who stands at a distance and tells people who are suffering to be grateful for their pain. He is a personal God who draws near, who is present in our pain.
Our God is not a God who callously says - "be stronger" or "pray harder" but a intimate God who tenderly says "I see you, and I’m here with you. And my grace is sufficient for you "
My brother and sisters, the thorn may still be there. And I cannot promise you it won't be. Paul's wasn't removed and some of yours may not be either. But what I can tell you — what the living Word of God tells you — is that in that place, God is not absent—He is present. Not as a distant observer, but as the One whose grace is full, sufficient, and alive in you.
And that changes everything.
Because the way you carry your thorn — the way you keep trusting, keep loving, keep pressing forward with unexplainable contentment — even when your prayer hasn't been answered the way you hoped — That is the life of Christ in you.
And people may not always have the words for it, but they are seeing something. Not you holding yourself together—but Christ holding you. Not your strength—but His grace at work in your life.
And that is how the gospel overflows. The power of Christ that rests on us in our weakness becomes a witness to the world that our hope does not come from ourselves—it comes from Jesus Christ.
So, my brothers and sisters, May we be a people who stop hiding our thorns and start bringing them honestly to the God who already knows them, and is already present in them. May we be a church where the grace of Christ is most visible - not in our moments of polished strength - but in the broken, honest places where we’ve needed Him most and found Him there. And may the overflow of His power through our weakness become a living witness that there is a God who is close — a Father who is kind — and whose name is Jesus Christ.
Reflection and Response
At this time, let's take a moment to reflect and respond to the message today.
As we pay attention to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, let's ask ourselves:
What is the “thorn” you are carrying right now that you wish God would take away?
Where are you struggling to believe that God’s grace is sufficient for you?
What would it look like to bring that honestly before God again this week?
How might Christ be made more visible through your weakness right now?
And If you are still exploring faith:
What if your struggle is not something to hide—but the very place where Christ wants to meet you? what would it look like to open your life—even your pain—to the possibility that Christ is present and inviting you to trust Him?
