My life has been filled with trials of many kinds. Some big, some small. Some short-term, some long-term. Each trial looks different than the last, but regardless they always end with The Lord teaching me new things and molding me into the woman of Christ He is calling me to be!
Trials can be hard, but good. They cause us to rely on Jesus and His strength and truths, which is so empowering! So, something that may suck will ultimately end up helping us!!
Something that I’ve heard countless times is, "boasting Him in the midst of weakness". In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul talks about how he will boast about how Christ’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in weakness. A backstory on Paul while he's writing this; Paul has a thorn in his flesh. The thorn isn't an actual thorn. We don’t know exactly what that thorn was (could have been a disease or something I dono we dono!!!), but we know it caused him a great deal of pain and problems.
Paul asks The Lord to remove the thorn and The Lord was like nope, sorry.
What the heck, right? Why would God not remove the thorn from a man that loves Him and serves Him? Especially because Paul asked Him 3 times to do so and I'm sure he asked super nicely!!! But Paul received far greater things than physical healing from The Lord. His character was shaped, his sympathy for others was enhanced, and his ability to seek God in any circumstance shined for others to see. Not only did the things Paul learned from having a thorn benefit himself, but others around him. He was able to reflect God’s goodness in the midst of pain and suffering. Paul never claimed to be tough enough to bear the thorn on his own. He needed God's grace and strength and because of that Christ’s power is demonstrated by Paul and Paul gladly boasts Him!!
When I read this passage I take out of it that we should rely on God for strength, to boast Him in our weakness and that He can use trials to grow/mold us!! All of those things are so awesome!!! But that's not all!!!!
After I’m reflecting on my own life, I’m thinking, "Hey I feel like I’ve done a decent job of telling people about the cool things God did through my trials!" I stayy telling people about my four knee reconstructions and how He saw me through them, how He opened doors for me I could have never imagined possible, and how His plan is better than my own and how I see that now and all that other good stuff!! Those things are all true and I am so thankful I am able to glorify Him because of them!!
But then I really got to thinking.... and I realized that what I actually do a decent job at is talking about PREVIOUS hardships that He has ALREADY brought me through.. Trials that now make sense, but at the time did not.
So what about the trials that I’m currently going through? Do I talk about my weakness in the midst of those? Yikesss. Nope, not really!! I don't like being viewed as weak, so I wait until things make sense to me before I mention it. When I talk about previous trials I can say, “I was weak then, but God gave me the strength and made me strong, so now I’m strong then leggo”. That is great and important to do, but that isn’t what Paul is doing in 2 Corinthians 12.
Paul is in the MIDDLE of a heavy trial. He is going through it right then and there! He was probably weak, tired, hurting, etc.. But instead of waiting until God removed the thorn to talk about how good God is, Paul was proclaiming God in the midst of it! In the midst of that thorn, he was like HEY GOD IS POWERFUL!! GOD IS COMPASSIONATE!! HE IS MERCIFUL!! HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR US!!! HE IS LOVING AND REDEEMING AND SO MANY OTHER THINGS!! HE IS THE LIGHT AND THE TRUTH!! HE IS OUR ROCK AND OUR REFUGE!
Had Paul waited until The Lord removed his thorn to speak about what is true of God and Who He is, then he would have been waiting for forever. Instead, he allowed God to use the very present thorn for His glory. I’m so glad he did, because now when I read the story of Paul and his thorn I am encouraged and comforted, knowing that He will be with me through any trial or mountaintop, fully sustaining me.
I think that's hard for me (and probably a lot of y’all) to do because I don’t want people to see me as weak. Nobody wants that. We don’t want people to see our hurt or our trial! We want to be viewed as tough and strong!! I am literally so bad at that. Tbh I kinda have a pride problem trying to be “tougher” than everyone. I like feeling like the “strong one”. But in reality, Sydney Hammit is freakin’ weak! It's because of Christ and His strength that I am resilient, bold, and strong.
There is something beautiful and authentic about admitting when we are weak. I believe that everyone is going through something, and if we all put a mask on and act like things are fine we are not only hurting ourselves but others as well. We are created to have community with others!! We can sympathize, encourage, and empower one another, but how the heck are we supposed to do that if we are all just walking around acting tough? So masks off, people!! So, moving forward I am going to try to boast His strength IN THE MIDST of my weakness!! Not just after I’ve come out on the other side and things are rainbows and sunshine and puppies and mini horses again!
Real recognize real, and I’m ready to be real.
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
“I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 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."
