Sufficient Grace (2 Corinthians 12:9)

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Second Corinthians was a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians who lived in the city of Corinth. In 2 Corinthians 12:1–4, Paul recounted that he had received supernatural visions and revelations from God. In verses 5–6, Paul acknowledged that he could have become proud because of the visions and revelations.

In verse 7, Paul explained that a “thorn in the flesh” was given to him in order to prevent him from becoming proud. The expression “thorn in the flesh” is an idiom for something that repeatedly annoys or causes problems (Num. 33:55; Josh. 23:13). Paul’s “thorn” was probably a difficult situation (v. 10). He described it as a messenger that was sent by Satan to disturb him.

In verse 8, Paul wrote that he prayed to God three times that the thorn would be removed from him. However, God did not answer Paul’s prayer in the way that Paul wanted; the thorn was not removed from Paul even after he had prayed three times!

In verse 9, Paul recorded God’s answer to his prayer: Instead of removing the thorn from him, God was giving Paul enough grace to endure the thorn. Here, “grace” refers to how God helps his people to endure difficult situations faithfully (Heb. 4:16).

“Strength” or “power” (KJV, ESV) is the opposite of “weakness”. Because of the thorn, Paul suffered a certain weakness. So, he needed God to graciously supply him with strength so that he could endure the thorn faithfully. Thus, Paul’s weakness from the thorn provided an opportunity for God’s strength to be more fully displayed.

Because Paul had experienced receiving strength from God, he preferred to boast in his weaknesses rather than boasting in his supernatural experiences. When people knew how weak Paul really was, then they would realize that Paul could be strong only because Christ’s strength was dwelling on him.

In verse 10, Paul specified that he suffered weaknesses when facing difficult situations such as insults, pressures, persecutions, and distresses. Elsewhere in this letter, Paul mentioned that he had suffered those difficulties before (6:4–5, 8–10; 11:23–28). Paul’s “thorn” could have been one of these difficulties.

“Taking pleasure” (KJV) or “being content” (ESV) means “to consider something as good” (BDAG). God’s sufficient grace did not change the reality that Paul still suffered his weaknesses! Yet, Paul considered his weaknesses good things because he knew that it was precisely during moments of weakness that he could be truly strong—with Christ’s strength.

God does not always answer our prayers by removing difficulties from our lives. This does not mean that we have not prayed enough, or that God is displeased with us. Rather, God often uses difficulties to grow our faith, when we learn to trust God to give us sufficient grace to endure faithfully, and to supply us with strength to help our weakness.