2 Corinthians 12:1-6

2 Corinthians 12:1-6  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.  He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not 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. 

In this passage to avoid appearing self-centered, Paul switches to the third person rather than using his own voice and says: I know a man in Christ.  He is still defending his credentials as an apostle, and especially as an apostle to the Corinthians.  He says he will boast about a man who has had a marvelous vision, but he will not boast in this man's presumed position in Christ or even in his special insight and knowledge about spiritual things.  He will glory only in God's work, not man's work or his ability.  If he boasts at all in the flesh, he will boast how God uses a man with so many weaknesses.  Paul understood he was an instrument in the hands of God, and that his loving Father was using every part of him, even his weaknesses.  Isn't it exciting to know that God is willing to use every part of us for his glory if we are willing to give ourselves over to him completely?  God loves and accepts us for who we are.  He works on our weaknesses, and He glories in our strengths, but He is able to use both.  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (vs 9)

God wants to use us.  None of us are too scarred, too physically or emotionally hurt, for God not to use us.  He desires Christians who will present their minds and bodies as living sacrifices to him, just as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.  (Romans 12:1)  If we do so, He will use every experience that we have ever had as we commit all to him.  He will even use the experiences that we have had in the past that we believe are too horrible, too awful, too sinful for him to receive any glory from them, but God will use everything.  He can turn the bad into good.  We might not have a wonderful vision from fourteen years ago for God to use; instead, we might have an affair, an abortion, or an abusive relationship to offer to him, but He will use everything that is consecrated to him.  My wife, Jacqueline likes to say, "God does not waste our pain if we invest it in the kingdom of heaven."  This is true.  

As Christians we boast in the fact that God can use even our weaknesses, our failures, our past for his glory.  He can take the worst of us and transport us to the third heaven in a vision as He did the villainous Paul, the persecutor, the murderer.  Paul sought to destroy the living body of Christ, the church--God himself, but God forgave him and made Paul a powerful instrument for good in his hands.  We, too, are powerful instruments for good in God's hands.  Our lives, past and present, are powerful instruments in his hands when they are totally committed to Christ.  Our unique  personalities, even our difficult temperaments, are effective tools in his hands when they are committed to him.  We are lights to a dying world.  We are those who reveal God's love to a loveless world, a hopelessly lost world.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  (Matthew 5:16)  Let your light shine without reservation; give your life in its totality to God.  Let your weaknesses and strengths be used by a loving God.  He wants you to shine, to take your place in the body of Christ.  Don't let your reflection on the bad things in your life take away from the good that He desires to do in your life.  You are his child, the sheep of his pasture.