God’s prescriptions for blessing can be most unusual.
The apostle Paul, for example, wrestled with a painful “thorn in the flesh…a messenger of Satan” which buffeted him and humbled him (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul pleaded earnestly with the Lord three times that it might depart from him, but, alas, to no avail. He was told, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Therefore, Paul declared, “most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
The composer of Psalm 102 found a similar blessing in weakness. When recounting this blessing, he wrote that God “weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days” (v. 23). Like the apostle Paul, he prayed for the antidote to this weakness. “I said, ‘O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations’” (v. 24). The prescription for his weakness was found in the knowledge that Jehovah is powerful, enduring, unchanging, and eternal (vv. 25-27). “The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You” (v. 28).
The grace of God is all-sufficient, regardless of how weak we are.
What a blessing!
