SUNDAY SERVICE BOASTING IN WEAKNESS 2 Corinthians 11:21–12:10 False apostles in Corinth attacked Paul’s credentials, boasting their Hebrew blood, Israelite status, and Abrahamic lineage. Paul matches them point for point, then surpasses: five times 39 lashes, three beatings with rods, one stoning, three shipwrecks, constant danger from rivers, robbers, Jews, Gentiles, false believers, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold. He could have stopped there with “What have you got?” Instead, Paul pivots: “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Cor 11:30). Fourteen years earlier, likely after being stoned in Lystra, Paul was caught up to the third heaven (paradise). In or out of the body? Only God knows. He heard inexpressible things no human is permitted to repeat. Most people would write books and sell movie rights. Paul kept silent for 14 years. To prevent pride from these revelations, God allowed a “thorn in the flesh,” a messenger of Satan to torment him. Paul begged the Lord three times to remove it. God’s answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Paul didn’t get deliverance. He got something better: dependence. We hide weaknesses on resumes and behind social masks. Paul boasts in them, insults, hardships, persecutions, difficulties, because when he is weak, then he is strong. The thorn kept him leaning on Christ instead of his own impressive resume. God perfectly balances blessings and suffering. He mixes trials with grace to produce maturity and display His power, not ours. Whatever your thorn, chronic illness, difficult relationship, persistent failure, stop begging for instant removal long enough to hear God say, “My grace is enough.” Count it joy. Boast in it. Let it drive you deeper into Christ. When we are weak, then we are strong. AMEN 4NBT | $YzY