Weakness

If you'd like to turn to, 2 Corinthians, the second letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians Church, at least a second letter we've got in the Bible, and it's on the church bible. This is on page 1 1 5 9, page 1 1 5 9. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of god and Timothy, our brother, to church of god in corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Acacia. Grace and peace to you from god, our father, and the lord Jesus Christ, praise be to the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ the father of compassion, and the god of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves receive from god. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds.

Through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort. Which produces a new patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer And our hope is is for our hope for you is firm because we know that justice you share in our sufferings, So also, you share in our comfort. We do not want you to be uninformed brothers and sisters about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia.

We were under great pressure. Far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, We felt we had received the sentence of death, but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on god who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him, we have said our hope that we will continue, that he will continue to deliver us.

As you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. As Pete said, it, would be helped if you could keep that passage open in front of you. My name is Tom Sweitman, and I'm on the staff team here. And, it's great to have you.

Welcome if you're a visitor with us this morning. We are starting this new series in 2 Corinthians and, we're not going to be working our way stomatically, through every verse and chapter as we often do in in our bible teaching, but rather we're gonna be looking at passages, but focusing on the theme of weakness. We're gonna be thinking about how we see weakness in Paul's life and why weakness in the Christian life is such a important thing to embrace because it's through weakness that the power and the strength of Christ can rest gloriously upon us. So that will be our theme. As we look into this letter together.

Our father, we thank you so much that your word is living and it is active. Thank you that it is a double edged sword which cuts us and which exposes our sin in ways which are unpleasant and uncomfortable and yet so helpful for us in the end. We pray that you would grant us not only awareness of our sin, but the gift of repentance. That we might turn back to you in faith. We thank you that you are the father of compassion, the god of all mercies.

We pray that through your spirit, we might taste something more of your comfort and your grace to us this morning, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Now on the whole, weakness I think is unattractive. Weakness is pretty unattractive. Jay, Packer, who's a a a Christian writer, says that, he puts it this way.

What what is weakness? What is weakness? The idea from first to last is 1 of inadequacy. And who of us honestly wants to be known as inadequate. An inadequate person.

Now look, it might not be physical strength that we're after, but most of us, I think want to be emotionally stable. We want strong relationships, strong ministries, strong families, a strong faith, It's hard to actually think of any area where weakness is preferable to strength. And that's why if I was to ask you, how how comfortable are you with the idea that others might view you as inadequate, how comfortable are you with the idea that others might look at you and consider you to be weak? The answer for me, at least, would be very uneasy. Or if I was to put it this way and ask, how do you react when your weaknesses are exposed.

What is your knee jerk reaction when you are revealed to be weak or inadequate in some area? What do you do? Do you get defensive? Do you run away? Do you try to blame other people?

Do you maybe give examples of how strong you were on other occasions to counter the weakness that has been exposed in this occasion. What what what is our instinctive reaction when our weaknesses are exposed. Personally, I shrink from the idea. And of course from 1 angle, that that is perfectly normal, really. I mean, when Moses said to Joshua, just before, just before he sorry, when Moses had died and Joshua was about to take the place as the leader of god's people, the lord said to him, be strong and courageous, Joshua.

Be strong. When Paul was preparing the Ephesians for spiritual warfare. He said to them, be strong in the lord. And in the strength of his might. So being a strong leader or a strong Christian or a strong mother, is not a bad thing.

In fact, we shouldn't settle for anything less in 1 sense. But when we discover that in order to be strong, we must admit that we are feeble and that any strength we have must be found in the lord. That's that's a painful business. And it's painful because basically we want people to think that we ourselves are strong individuals. We have the resources to cope.

We have it in us to be able to survive all of life's difficulties and hardships. So for example, you you think of a a home group leader or a music leader, or a bible teacher, or a pastor, they wanna be seen as strong. How are others gonna trust them if they see any hint of weakness? How can they be examples to people if they struggle with personal sin? If they get nervous and if they don't know what to do in certain situations, if they feel like giving up If you were serving in the army, you wouldn't want a nervy anxious commander who was weighed down and unsure what to do.

Would you? You wouldn't want someone like that at the head of the ship. So who would want a spiritual leader like that? Weakness is not in the job description. Now as we come to this letter, we are gonna meet these characters called the super apostles.

That's the nickname that Paul gives them in this letter, the super apostles, and they believed exactly that about gospel ministry. That's what they thought. Unlike Paul who is an apostle by the will of god verse 1, an apostle by the will of god they are self appointed and they say that an apostle ought to be strong. And so when they looked at Paul's life of weakness and suffering, they assumed that he had been rejected by god. His letters are weighty and strong but his bodily appearance is weak and his speech is of no account chapter 10 verse 10.

That's what they thought. So do you see, although it's a long time ago, they believe what we instinctively believe about weakness that it's embarrassing that it's undesirable and it's to be avoided. But in response, Paul does something amazing with them. The very thing that they criticize him for He's gonna celebrate. Your week, Paul, your bodily presence is weak, and your speeches of no account, you're a weak apostle.

Guilty. I am. I do suffer. I am tempted to lose heart I do struggle with anxiety. I worry about you, my churches.

I have despaired even of life itself. But in that, I rejoice. Not because I love suffering. I don't pray to be crushed under the suffering hands of god. But because when I am weak, then I am strong.

When I am weak, then the power of Christ will be seen in me And because my gospel is all about magnifying the power of Christ, if it takes my weakness, then in that, I will rejoice. In every weakness and in every suffering, Christ will be at work to display his power. And so in that, I rejoice. This is gonna be Paul, and I think you'll agree by the end. This is gonna be Paul at his most raw, his most emotional, his most passionate, and his most angry.

Most of the other letters tend to have a fairly clear structure to them. This 1 is all over the place. It's hard to know where you are and what he's talking about sometimes. It's as if he's just sat there with a pen pouring his heart out onto a page desperate to say anything at all that might persuade them to agree with his view of ministry. He is pouring his heart out onto the page.

And the reason that we must study it is because quite simply it is going to demolish the myths that we have about weakness, and it will encourage us both as individuals and as a church that the grace of the lord Jesus Christ is made perfect in our weakness. When we are weak, then we are strong. When we are weak, Christ is at the door, knocking, waiting to display his power in some magnificent way. So 4 weeks, 4 different passages, but that is gonna be the 1 theme, which I hope will unite them all. When I am weak, then I am strong.

And this morning, we're gonna spend our time in that extraordinary opening section. Hopefully, you've still got it in front of you, and we'll begin with the weakness, the weakness that we see. And the first point is this. We despaired of life itself. First point, we despaired of life itself.

That's the phrase Paul uses. Now I think I've used this, illustration before, but, a couple of well, several years ago now, when I was doing a, a placement in my second year of university, I worked for an engineering firm, a ground engineering firm, in Bristol. And 1 of the things that we had to do, was to test concrete blocks. So you might know that in order for a company to use concrete in construction. It has to have undergone several tests to make sure it's strong enough and it's made of the right stuff and it can cope with the pressure.

And what I had to do was to place these concrete blocks under this hydraulic press for hours and hours just testing these different cubes to see how strong they were and pushing them to the point at which they failed. And most of them were pretty good and pass the tests, but just occasionally, we would get these blocks that had some kind of terrible weakness within the structure and you would expose it to a little bit of pressure, it would crack and falter, and then it would just blow up inside the secure cabinet and you'd have bits of concrete smashing all up inside the machine. And, it was quite interesting to see that on on the 1, on the 1 hand, Those blocks that were particularly weak didn't look any different from the strong ones. They were the same color, same shape, but actually when they were exposed to pressure, that's when they were revealed for what they truly were. And if we're honest, it can be that way with us, can't it?

Hardhips, put us under pressure, and pressure shows what's going on inside. They are like a window into the heart. And I think that's why many of us prefer to deal with them privately. If we have doubts, if we're not coping very well, we don't wanna be exposed. We don't wanna be known as a weak Christian who is despairing of life itself, better to suffer in silence.

Better to cover up any doubts we might have. Better to pretend or at least give off the impression that it's all brought you off a ducks back to us. But Paul took another view. Have a look at verse 8. We do not want you to be uninformed brothers and sisters about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia.

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired of life itself. Now that sentence has been ringing around my mind so much so much this week. I think it's just amazing. And I don't I don't want to overdo it, and I don't want to read a kind of modern agenda into it, which just wouldn't have been there. But it it's almost like a suicidal thought, isn't it?

We despaired of life. We could not endure. We said to ourselves, This is it. We are overcome. We can't cope.

And so the natural question is, well, well, what was going on? What could it have been that caused the apostle Paul with all his strength and ability to endure to talk in this way What happened to him in the province of Asia? Well, it could have been a physical suffering. In chapter 12, Paul mentions this thorn in the flesh, which many people do believe was a kind of physical disability and it wouldn't be surprising if that was true. He was whipped to death several times.

He was stoned into a coma and left for dead. He had his back mutilated and torn open by the most cruel torturous inventions, he must have been a wreck. The fake apostles actually said his bodily presence is weak and no wonder they said that. Would it be possible for him to endure without some kind of lasting physical damage? I don't think so.

Or could it be the riot in ephesus? In acts 19, you might remember the story. Demetrius, the Silver Smith talks to the crowds. Paul had been saying, that the gods they worshiped were no gods at all, and that had damaging implications on his business. And so he stood up to address the crowd He whipped them up into this frenzy of hate, and he inspired them to turn against Paul and his gospel.

And that is a familiar story when you read the book of acts. Wherever he went, his gospel head butted the culture, And in ephesus, maybe he realized that it was only a matter of time before he would lose his life for that gospel? Or perhaps it was the anxiety that he felt every time he prayed for his precious churches. What would become of them? Were they established?

Did they still trust him? Would enemies destroy them? Did they believe in his authority? Were they living for Christ in the way that he had described they should? Is concerned.

He couldn't just ring him up. No WhatsApp, no FaceTime alone in the province of Asia. Racked with anxiety about these precious churches. That was the life of the apostle. He was weighed down and he was despairing of life itself.

Now look, you might say, well, actually then if that's all true, no wonder he puts this in. Anybody who can survive these kind of attacks is rock hard and worth following. This is good for his authority. Paul isn't admitting that he's weak here, he's bragging. Look what I've endured.

Just tell me what other apostle can survive in the way that I have survived. You follow me Iron Man. But I'm not convinced that's the case. If that was true, then why would he be so open about his feelings of weakness? That is something you could cover up You could describe the sufferings and how it was just like a flea bite to you, but why be so honest about his weakness?

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired of life self. If you're trying to convince people that you're Iron Man, that doesn't need to go in. And on top of that, remember the context These false teachers were saying that a weak apostle is not the sort of role model you want. For goodness sake, Look at him. Look at him.

You know what he's like. He's wracked with suffering. His bodily presence is nothing. His speech is weak. You you you wanna trust that pattern of ministry.

Do you? Time for a vote of no confidence in Paul. So you see, just like Job's friends, they used his suffering to try to discredit him as god's man. And so the question is in a letter trying to reestablish his authority, why not just get rid of verse 8 and 9? Block them out.

It was far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired of life itself. Why? Why is he? Why has he put it there? 2 reasons.

Firstly, because those sufferings say something about his relationship with Jesus Christ. Verse 5, we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ. You see how he just flips the script on them. The super apostles are saying, suffering shows that you are estranged from god. It's a kind of proof that you're under divine displeasure.

Paul says the opposite is true. I share in the sufferings of Christ. I am like him. I walk his way. I am united to him.

I am his apostle. In Asia, it was as if I had died and rose again. Just like Jesus died and rose again. I was out of control. It was beyond my ability to endure just as it was beyond my savior's ability to endure in the Garden of gethsemane.

I received the sentence of death just as he did. I was delivered from death just as he was. I was victorious just as he is. This chapter doesn't harm his status as an apostle. It strengthens it.

He is walking in the way of the cross, sharing in the sufferings which Jesus went through. That is the first reason we find such honesty about his weakness and his suffering. Paul considers himself. I think he really does. Paul considers himself to be so united to Jesus it's like he's living Jesus' life again.

It's like he's reincarnating the life of Jesus. Dying and rising, suffering and victory for the gospel. But the second reason is to teach the church and to teach us that suffering for the Christian is not meaningless. This is not an atheistic world that we live in. In an atheistic world, emptiness and void are at the heart of the universe.

Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless. But if the father of compassion is in that place, it gives color and meaning to everything. And that is why I think Paul is so upfront at the start of this letter. He is full of praise He's bursting with praise. Praise be to the god and the father of our lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion, the god of all mercies and comfort.

He's he's overflowing with gladness as he begins his letter. Why? Because he knows Those sufferings are not meaningless. So secondly, we've seen the weakness, how he despaired of life itself, but secondly, let's look at where he found his strength. Here's the second point.

We despaired of life itself, but praise be to the father of compassion. We despair of life itself, but praise be to the father of compassion. Let's pick up at verse 3. Praise me to the god and the father of our lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion, and the god of all comfort, who comforts us. In all of our troubles.

And given what we've just been thinking about, do do you Do you see do you think that that is an incredible that is an incredible opening? He is at his weakest under attack reputation on the line. Church members turning away, but praise be to the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ. The god of all compassion, is he not sour? Is he not bitter?

Hasn't he lost? At least 1 ounce of his pastoral affection for the church. Is he not angry with god? Easy to do, isn't it? When hardships come, either personally or to us as a church, which they do in many different forms.

To become cynical, and to become sour, and to be bitter with things and with people. To become despondent and hopeless about our ministry. Paul doesn't do that. Now how can we explain verse 3 and verse 8 in the same paragraph? They don't belong in the same paragraph today, verse 3 and verse 8.

But as I say, it's because Paul is absolutely knows that just as the sufferings of Jesus were not meaningless, neither are his. And I think there are 3 3 reasons, 3 ways we see that under this second point, and the first is The first is in verse 3. Have a look again. Praise be to the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion, and the god of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles suffering for the apostle led to a fresh experience of god's comfort. He tasted god's comfort.

And now unfortunately, I think the word comfort has lost quite a lot of its meaning in in English today. And and I guess I was trying to think how how we normally understand the word, and it probably means to make to make life a bit easy, doesn't it? To comfort someone maybe or to be comforted is to something to be made easy or it's providing some kind of cushioning maybe in in life. But that's not that's not it. This sort of comfort is more like the renewal of strength.

The endless renewal of strength that god provides for his suffering people. And of course, I guess if you would ask Paul to describe what god was like before these hardships. He would have said that. I think he would have said that. I think he knew god enough to be familiar with those truths?

Yes. He's a he's a he's a god of comfort and a god of compassion. I don't think he learnt anything brand new about the character of god. While he was in Asia, but rather that he experienced in a deeper way what he had always known to be true. He's he tasted it in a richer way during his hardships.

From the fatherly hands of god, he knew that there was an endless supply of strength, like those refillable bottomless drinks. We just go back and back and back and back and it keeps it keeps keeps coming, keeps filling you, keeps renewing you. And as we know, that has been the testimony of many Christians ever since and here today, I'm sure. When they have been despairing of life itself, they have not been overcome. The father of compassion and the god of all mercy has not abandoned them.

In fact, he has used their hardships to give them a fresh experience of his comfort and strength. It's not that they didn't know he was a god who could comfort them beforehand. But there's something about the hardship, which gives us a fresh experience and taste of that wonderful blessing, that renewing of strength. Suffering in the Christian life is not meaningless. The father of mercies has a supply of comfort that is ready to overflow to us in Jesus Christ.

He is the father of compassion and the god of all comfort. So Paul knew his sufferings weren't meaningless. It was in order that he might taste something of the comfort of god. But secondly, along with that, Paul knows that the reason he received comfort was so that he could comfort others. It's an amazing connection there, isn't there?

He received comfort in order to be a comforter. Verse 3, Praise be to the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion, and the god of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles so that We can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we receive from god. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, So also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation. And I think that is just an an amazing link because for many of us, when hardships come, We tend to behave a bit like snails.

We we we want to retreat and draw up and disappear up and inside the shell in order that the whole experience can be a little bit more private and personal. But for Paul, it was different. He didn't want that. He didn't want to be a snail. He saw that this was an opportunity for ministry.

So bear with me here. I I think he saw himself both as a bucket and a pipe. A bucket and a pipe, comfort pours into him from the lord Jesus, but he's also a pipe who channels the comfort of Jesus Christ out to others. It's like those if you're on Facebook, like those challenges, which I think are becoming less popular, but were very popular for a while where you've got this bucket, several buckets, 10 or 15 buckets, and you have to work out which 1 would be filled first. I know Paul Brown likes these challenges.

Which bucket is gonna be filled first, a, b, c, or d, and you've got all these buckets that are constantly being filled with water, but are constantly piping it away. As a pipe at the base of the bucket. And that that I think is the idea. Paul's suffering led to him being filled like a bucket with the comfort of Christ, but don't hog it, Paul, you're a pipe, as well as a bucket. You it's it's so that you can channel it out to the church.

And this is not a casual relationship. He doesn't say I suffered so that I might possibly be better at comforting you. No. He says, if we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation. Not it might be or it could be or it would be, it is.

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort. My suffering is for that purpose to comfort you and to keep you on the saving road. That that that really is a key point, I think. What happened to Paul in Asia was not a waste of time It happened, he says, so that I might have a ministry of comfort for you. God was preparing me to serve you.

And although he is talking about his own suffering as an apostle, there is a healthy challenge for for us in that. In the difficult times, we ought to consider not if But how god is preparing us to have a ministry to others, a ministry of comfort? We ought to consider how god not if, but will be using our hardships to provide strength and endurance for other brothers and sisters who may be or will be going through similar trials. In our hardships, we need to consider, and this is an amazing thought how we might even be a means of salvation to other people as they see us testifying to the strength of Christ, when naturally we would be overcome. There's something Jesus glorifying about that, isn't there?

Which may draw the unrepentant to faith in Christ. May not be instant, and it may take years for us to be in a position where we can actually exercise that kind of ministry But god's intention is not to waste the suffering of his people His intention is that we would be both buckets and pipes, always being filled, always flowing out. That's the second reason. He knows it's not a waste of time. He himself experienced comfort, but also he knew he was being prepared for a ministry.

But thirdly, and lastly, he rejoices because it taught him to rely on god. Have a look at verse 8 again. We do not want you to be uninformed brothers and sisters about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves But on god who raises the dead, he has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.

Again. And you see if I was to ask you what what is the essence of faith? I'm sure many of us would say while faith is trusting in god. It's relying on god. Something like that.

But if I was to ask, what is the opposite of faith? Would you say is the opposite of faith? We might not be as clear. Does it mean that we never doubt Does it mean that we never wobble in our Christian convictions? Is that it?

Or would you say that the opposite of faith is relying on yourself? Trusting in yourself, believing that you have the resources to cope in every situation. That has got got to be the opposite of faith. And that is why verse 9 is so important. Paul's weakness didn't just benefit the church.

It benefited him. This happened so that we might not rely on ourselves, put on, but on god. It's amazingly rich, isn't it? To think about that. That god had designed those hardships for Paul so that he would realize his weakness and rely on god.

Not only was the lord preparing him for a ministry of comfort, He was teaching him at his lowest point to abandon self trust and to rely on Jesus Christ. And the simplicity of that, I think, is just very comforting for us because in 1 sense suffering in the Christian life still comes with many unanswered questions, doesn't it? We don't we don't always have the explanation for things. Why did this happen to them and not them? Why did it happen like this?

Why me? Why so much so soon? Why now? Why this church? Why any church?

Lots of unanswered questions that we don't fully know the answer to. But on the other hand for the Christian, The answer to all of those questions is so that you might rely on god. Even if you can't explain it, don't turn away from him. This has happened so that you might rely on god. William Law, who's an old, church minister and writer, he he put it in these in these terms.

Receive every inward and outward trouble Every disappointment, darkness, and desolation with both your hands as a true opportunity and a blessed occasion of dying to self and entering into a fuller fellowship with thy self denying suffering, savior. When life is dealing, you blow after blow of the blow and you don't know why. The answer is so that you might rely on Christ. And find new strength in him. Mockers will often say that Christianity is just a crutch It's a crutch for people who can't cope, for people who need to lean on something other than themselves, and we say, amen.

Thank you for the illustration. A hundred percent. I'm gonna use it this morning. Christianity is weak people relying on a strong god and knowing his strength in difficulties. But just before we finish, there's another very important side to relying on god.

It's not just personal. It involves the church. For every blessing, there's some kind of link with the church. Did you notice that in this passage? For every personal blessing, comfort, that I might comfort, rely on god asking you for prayer.

There's always a personal and corporate element to the things that Paul is saying. You can see it in verse 10. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him, we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us as you help us. By your prayers.

The prayer life of the church was at absolutely vital for Paul. He knew that although he had suffered in Asia, He was still an apostle running the race and there was more to come. And if he was to have any chance of surviving and being delivered, he would have to have the prayers of the church. In his mind, relying on god means relying on the church of god. Relying on god means relying on the church of god, and it's amazing because in many ways, the Corinthians were powerless to help him.

They were hundreds of miles away. But Paul knew that through their prayers, god would work and deliver him again. And I think that is important because in some ways, in lots of ways, asking for prayer is a kind of weakness. We're admitting that we are inadequate, that we can't do something that we can't, and we don't have the resources to cope, but we also believe that god is able and he will give the strength. So it's a strange thing prayer in the church because it is at the same time an admission of our total weakness and yet the pathway to the most incredible gospel strength.

And therefore, you can see that if we privatize and go up into the shell and don't rely on the church, we're not relying on god either. I mean, we all know what it's like when you hear maybe you're part of prayer WhatsApp groups or connected with other Christians in in lots of ways. And when you hear some terrible news of suffering, what do Christians always say? Please pray. Please will you pray.

And that's because we want others to feel it. When we ask for prayer, we are inviting people into our weakness. When we ask for prayer, we're saying, will you suffer with me? We're inviting them in to our sufferings, and we're reminding them that we all need to rely on Jesus together, but if we don't do that, we rob ourselves of strength And we dishonor god who wants to strengthen us and magnify his name through the prayers of the church. Relying on god means praying with the church.

And when that happens, we get the strength he gets the glory. JI Packer describes verse 11 wonderfully. He says the words in answer to the prayers of many, stand in the original as out of many faces. Out of many faces, which may perhaps be understood as the beautiful picture of many faces upturned to god. In Thanksgiving.

What a picture. Many faces. Many faces looking to god for help, many faces looking up with Thanksgiving, many voices, giving glory to Christ, for the comfort that he provides. So you can see that even if this passage was all that we had, it would be enough to show us that Christian suffering is not meaningless. When Paul was despairing of life itself, he tasted the comfort of god.

When he was overcome with weakness, god was preparing him for a ministry of strength. And when he was at his lowest, god was teaching him to rely upon his grace. And as we're gonna see, that is like a golden thread, which unites every verse and portion of this amazing letter right through to the end. Paul says I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses. So that Christ's power may rest on me.

Let's bow our heads and have a moment of quiet and, take this opportunity to pray to the father of compassion and the god of all comfort. Father, we thank you that you are the father of compassions and you are the god of all comfort. We pray that you would forgive us for our sin forgive us that so often we think that we are strong, that we can be strong in ourselves, that we have to give off an impression that we are capable, people who can cope with everything life throws at us, and we can do it, have mercy on us. Thank you for reminding us that we are weak, that we suffer, that we sin, that we need you. And lord, we pray that you would help us not to shy away from weakness but to embrace it knowing that in weakness, there is an opportunity to magnify your strength and power and glory in our lives.

We want to be those who when people look on, think goodness, what a week? Needy people, and yet they cannot deny the strength and the glory of Christ that rests upon us. We pray father for those who, are suffering. At the moment, we pray that they might have a special awareness of your comfort and compassion We pray for all of us that when we go through difficult times, we may not retreat but see how you might be preparing us to provide comfort and endurance for brothers and sisters who are suffering. And father, we thank you for showing us that in all of life's unanswered questions about suffering.

The answer at the bottom of them all is so that you might rely on god. Help us. We pray to rely on you. Dollorifying you and thanking you and trusting you, we pray in Jesus' name, amen, amen.