" . . . for whenever I am weak, then I am strong."
Scripture is full of paradoxes. How can one be weak and strong at the same time?
Paul is talking about the struggles and obstacles in life: insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. Not just any type of struggle, but those which occur when we are living in Christ, when we are proclaiming Christ, when we are acting in ways that are countercultural and the world doesn't understand. When our discipleship causes us struggle, it may seem we are weakened---that we are made less than.
But it is in these very times when our true strength shines through. When we show the world that our foundation is Jesus, then we are strong. For what greater ground can we stand on than the One who created all? While the world may think we are foolish, we know the truth. God's "grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."
It is only when we can recognize that we alone are not enough; it is only when we realize that in God we must trust that we truly find our strength and sustenance.
"You [God] rouse us to take delight in praising you, because you made us for your own and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." ---St. Augustine
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