St. Paul’s Powerful Self-Help Verse by Myra Kahn Adams for Town Hall
Thanks for joining us as we study one of my favorite Bible verses written by St. Paul. It is a formidable passage that appears in 2 Corinthians 12:10: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” However, likely only those who believe in the comforting and healing power of Jesus Christ will benefit from and be inspired by Paul’s poignant testimony. In his magnificent poetic style, Paul conveys why we must trust in Jesus when we are suffering.
But first, I will explain why this weak/strong verse ranks high among my favorites and can be a powerful self-help mantra during times of stress and adversity.
Back in the mid-1990s, while amid a personal crisis, I flew across the country to an event where a close friend was speaking. It was a meaningful weekend, but when alone in my hotel room, I was shrouded with feelings of depression and doom. That was when I started saying aloud, “when I am weak, I am strong,” for about 10 minutes. Repeating the Scripture was an empowering experience that strengthened my faith and will to persevere.
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Twenty-five years later, I recall that moment with a clear perspective and confidence that you too can draw strength from weakness by repeating Paul’s words in a mantra-like fashion.
Second, before we dive into the complete passage, it is essential to have a little background about Paul. If you are unfamiliar with him, he is credited with writing 13 of the 27 books that comprise the New Testament and is considered the world’s greatest Christian evangelist. But before all that, Paul was miraculously transformed from an influential Jewish leader who initially persecuted Jesus’s Jewish apostles and followers. For more details, you can refer to Vol. 60 and Vol. 61.
That said, here are the verses preceding, “For when I am weak, I am strong”:
“Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. 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” (2 Corinthians 12: 6-10).
