Christ's Power Is Made Perfect in Our Weakness

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 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” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

These last few weeks have certainly not been expected. It appears to me that no person is immune to the COVID-19 virus. Even when taking extra precautions, no person is immune.

When any weakness, such as the COVID-19 virus, strikes a person, this person will experience what Jesus Christ taught the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

So, when we cannot accomplish what we normally find easy to accomplish, such as our activities of our daily living, remember that even in our weakness, Christ’s grace is still sufficient for us.

This can be hard to comprehend for many of us as we are taught from an early age to have a good work ethic. But, what happens when one day we can easily accomplish our tasks, but the next day, we cannot?

One of the side-effects of this virus upon me has been keeping concentration. This has been improving, but for several days, I have had a difficult time stringing two sentences together. I have had a tough time recalling some thoughts that are second nature to me. It is as if my mind was in a fog. But, by God’s will, I am thankful that my concentration is improving.

For me, I am so thankful that God the Father does not require my concentration — my mind — in order to be saved. I am thankful that He sent His only begotten Son to die and rise for me and all creation, so that through trusting in Jesus, I, and all people, would be saved.

This truth is the only thing that can get us through any weakness. During these weeks in quarantine, I have found a new appreciation for one of my favorite Scripture passages from Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

As I found it difficult to accomplish any work, I had to trust in others. This is an example of faith. We, fallen sinners, cannot accomplish everything on our own. We certainly cannot accomplish salvation on our own. All we can do is repent of our sins and trust in Jesus that these sins are forgiven. All we can do is receive — by faith in Christ — what has already been accomplished for us. For every person on earth, we are at the mercy of God. Whether, we are incapacitated, in quarantine, in worry or doubt about tomorrow, or seemingly healthy, we are all at the mercy of God.

All we can do is to be content with our weaknesses, for it is Christ alone who makes us strong. As for living in this current pandemic, all we can do is to trust in Jesus. He allowed this pandemic for a reason. For us, we can only guess what reason: Repentance? Turning from our idols? On this side of heaven, we will never truly know.

My only advice is to continue to see people as people. Don’t see your masked neighbors as possible enemies, but instead see them as human beings who need Christ’s grace as we all do. Continue to live your life, but don’t be reckless. At this moment in time, it appears that we will all be affected by the virus. It is always easy to play the blame game on how we may become infected, but remember, this virus is novel. This means that “the experts” do not know the exact details on how this virus truly spreads and how to truly prevent it.

Instead of worrying, follow the example of Job. When Satan struck him repeatedly, he never gave in to his temptations. Despite Job’s lack of understanding and inability to explain his suffering, he held on to his belief that God is still his redeemer.

So when any weakness strikes you, remember that the grace of Christ is sufficient for you and that Christ’s power is made perfect in our weakness. We are made perfect by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We are to always be thankful that God the Father chose to redeem us while we were weak — dead in our sins. We are saved through the death and resurrection of Christ, which all began through His incarnation — God coming in our human flesh.

In Christ,
Pastor Adelsen