The Strength of God in Us

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” - 2 Corinthians 12:10

When I first read this scripture, I honestly thought, “What? That makes no sense.” How could weakness ever be something to delight in? Why would anyone celebrate hardship?

But the narrator encouraged us to read the chapter before it, and suddenly the verse opened up in a new way. Paul wasn’t speaking from theory, he was speaking from experience. He had been through a lot. He listed everything he had survived, everything he had endured, everything that had pushed him to the edge. And it was in that context that he said:

“When I am weak, then I am strong.” Not because he was strong but because God was.

When Life Is Good, We Forget. When Life Is Hard, We Remember.

As I reflected on this, I realized something about myself: When everything is going well, I’m not always thinking about God. I’m not relying on Him. I’m not seeking Him. I’m just… living.

But when things fall apart, when I’m anxious, overwhelmed, grieving, confused, or hurting that’s when I call on Him. That’s when I lean in. That’s when I remember I can’t do this alone. And I think that’s true for a lot of us.

Society celebrates the strong, the talented, the successful, the self-sufficient. But God often works in the opposite direction. He takes the overlooked, the underestimated, the ones who don’t feel gifted or qualified and He uses them to show His glory.

Paul is the perfect example. He wasn’t a gifted speaker. He wasn’t the obvious choice. He even used to persecute Christians.

Sometimes I wonder if Paul ever thought about that, how he once mistreated believers, and then later experienced the same kind of persecution for the faith he once attacked. And even when he asked God to remove the suffering, God said: “My grace is sufficient for you.” Not, “I’ll take you out of it.” but “I’ll be with you in it.” That’s a hard truth. But it’s also a freeing one.

Weakness Isn’t Failure It’s an Invitation

The devotional I read said something that stayed with me:

It is in moments of anxiety, weakness, or difficulty that God desires to be our strength. And I’ve seen that in my own life. I tend to notice Him, seek Him, and lean on Him more in weakness. Weakness seems to activate our awareness of God.

Every time I’ve come out of a difficult season, it has led to something unexpected a new opportunity, a new door, a new level of clarity, a new version of me. What felt like a setback was actually a setup. What felt like breaking was actually building. What felt like loss was actually preparation. 

But here’s what I’ve also learned, weakness isn’t always God “trying to get my attention.” Sometimes weakness simply reveals how human I am and how present God already is. When I’m walking closely with Him, weakness becomes less about waking me up and more about shaping me. It becomes the place where I notice His strength the most, not because He wasn’t working before, but because I’m finally aware of how much I need Him. He never promised we wouldn’t face trials. But He did promise to be our strength in them.

Let God Be Your Strength

If you’re walking through something hard, a challenge, a transition, a disappointment, a season of uncertainty, let God be your guide and your strength.

Weakness is not the end of you. Weakness is where God begins.