For When I Am Weak, Then Am I Strong!

Long ago, a people called “Amalek” struck the weak among the children of Israel when they were weary on their way out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 25:17-19 “17Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; 18How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. 19Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.”

Likewise, our adversary the devil also watches for our weak points, just as the Amalekites did, when we are weak.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

Ephesians 4:26-27 “26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27Neither give place to the devil.”

Therefore, we must not reveal smallness of strength by fainting in the day of adversity.

Proverbs 24:10 “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”

1 Peter 5:9-10 “9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

When the apostle Paul confessed by faith, “when I am weak, then am I strong,” he did not say this because the thorn in his flesh, which made him weak, had disappeared. He still had the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan. But through it, he learned not to be exalted above measure, and to humbly rely on the power of Jesus. Therefore, for Christ’s sake, he was able to take pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, and distresses.

In the same way, if we also, like the apostle Paul, can learn through suffering to rely on the Word of God and the power of Jesus, then that suffering will not remain merely painful suffering. Surely, through that suffering, we will receive great spiritual benefit.

Psalm 119:67-72 “67Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word... 71It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes. 72The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.”

Psalm 105:17-19 “17He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: 18Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 19Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.”

Amen.