2 Corinthians chapter 12 i have the privilege of getting to to fill in for tonight while

pastor jacks away and um this is a great great a well-known portion of scripture second

corinthians chapter 12 verses 1 through 10 we're looking at a message entitled The Strength of Weakness.

The Strength of Weakness.

Now, the strength of weakness is one of many paradoxes that are found in Scripture,

two ideas that seemingly contradict one another.

Other biblical paradoxes that you might be familiar with would be when Jesus said

you got to lose your life to what? Find it. To be first, you got to be and then of course being the

servant of all makes you the greatest. These paradoxes, seemingly two contradictory things, the strength of weakness.

Now, apart from the incredible grace of God, there is no such thing as the strength of weakness.

Outside of God's grace, strength is strength and weakness is weakness. And yet within the all-sufficient grace of God, the path to power is not found in one's

own abilities, but embracing the reality of our own inabilities before the Lord.

Now, this is a challenging concept to consider. I'm going to be honest and up front with you.

And the reason is because it's unnatural to us. This way of thinking goes against really our sinful

nature. How is there any strength in being weak?

Well, it reminds me of how you back up a trailer.

Now, let me just say that it's way harder than it looks.

You really have to completely reprogram the way that you think about driving.

It is quite the challenge at first, and your brain seems to just short circuit a little bit. As you can tell, I have some trauma from this. I remember clearly the first

time I was younger, and I remember the first time thinking that it would be easy. Of course.

Oh, yeah, I'll back the trailer up

right to the dock. It was a it was for a boat and I was like yeah, you know, easy. And it was to pick up

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