2 Corinthians 12:7-10
For When I am Weak, then I am Strong
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
St. Paul suffered in his life with pain, so much that he prayed and pleaded with the LORD to take it away...We know St. Paul learned to live with it...He was blessed with great knowledge in many things, the scripture, a great speaker, a leader, a great writer of scriptures...St. Paul still could not shake this pain...The LORD spoke to St. Paul and told him he would be alright and God's grace was sufficient in his life and that to have acceptance for this pain...By finding this acceptance in this weakness, St. Paul would be stronger..."For when I am weak, then I am strong"...St. Paul trusted in the LORD to see him through this pain and suffering- and St. Paul was was made stronger...And as I read these verses I think about what was said by Jesus' in His Sledgehammer Sermon on the Mount...