The Marines have a saying: “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” Of course, in context, that is a powerful way for those protecting our nation to train and push their bodies beyond what they thought was possible. But behind that idea is also a truth that most people believe about their own normal lives: weakness needs to leave my life. In fact, it is so unwanted that I would be ready to suffer so that I don’t need to be weak any longer. But believers have an entirely different viewpoint on weakness. Paul describes here famously his own learning experience that everything is different when we live trusting Jesus. Paul did what we all would do when pain overtook his life. He asked Jesus to take the pain away. But Jesus said that Paul had something more valuable and powerful than the absence of pain. He had the grace of God poured out in his life for everything that would seemingly go wrong. And Paul decided that he would believe that God’s grace would be enough for him.
