How to Rely on God's Power When Affliction Persists

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“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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

A few years ago, I started experiencing escalating physical anxiety symptoms again for the first time in 18 medication-free months. With just one high schooler left at home, my homeschooling load was much lighter, and I was only teaching part-time at our local homeschool program. Yet, without an obvious trigger, routine activities suddenly became an overwhelming burden. 

As panic symptoms became more frequent, my worries and question-filled prayers escalated, too. What if I couldn’t fulfill my teaching obligations? What was I supposed to do if things got bad while my husband, who often traveled for work, was out of town? Was I strong enough to relieve my anxiety symptoms naturally this time?

At the advice of a close friend who was a doctor and personally acquainted with mental health struggles, I reluctantly started “running” (my version) for daily, short-term relief from anxiety symptoms. Running had been her saving grace through recent bouts with anxiety, as well as an online running group called “Outrun the Dark” that encouraged her.

However, two weeks into my experiment with running for symptom relief, I took a misplaced step that injured my hip during the home stretch of an evening run. As I defeatedly limped off the path down the street, pain intensifying and tears flowing down my sweaty cheeks, more questions for God came spilling out between gasping breaths.

Why did I have to hurt myself when all I wanted to do was help myself, doing something healthy? What am I supposed to do now? Why am I here again when I worked so hard to be medication-free?

Have you been pleading with the Lord to remove a “thorn” from your life, as Paul prayed in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8? Are you struggling to understand why God would allow it when clearly you could be so much more productive and effective without an affliction holding you back? 

When physical anxiety symptoms first rocked my high-achieving, carefully controlled world ten years earlier, I cried out to God many sleepless nights, hoping that His answer would be to remove my thorn of anxiety. However, I came to understand why God’s answer to Paul, which was not to remove his thorn, wasn’t cruel or unfair. 

Instead, He answered: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

The Greek word teleioō, translated as “made perfect” in this verse, means “to complete, to add what is yet lacking to render a thing full” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). This same root word is used in many Gospel accounts by Jesus when He talked about finishing His work on earth, which was His saving work on the cross. Because that mission was completed, God now completes His transforming work in us, which is especially evident where we are lacking.

As I faced this new reality of a sprained hip muscle and not being able to run, I asked God to help me understand how His power could be at work through another physical and mental setback. Not long after my injury, I learned that just being outside and moving in a natural environment has significant mental health benefits. So I decided to take slow, steady walks for some symptom relief instead. 

I had no idea this would be the beginning of a new practice of solitude and stillness, a time for God to demonstrate His transforming power by healing wounds that were much deeper than any physical affliction. 

Friend, if you’re pleading with the Lord to help you make sense of another setback, another failure, another “thorn” that hasn’t been healed, remember that He is a good, good Father who is completing the transforming work He’s started in you through your weaknesses. For when we are weak, He is strong!

Questions for Reflection:

1. Have you been praying for a “thorn” to be removed so that you could more productively serve the Lord? Consider God’s answer to Paul and look for glimpses of His sustaining grace at work, despite this challenge. 
2. When you look back at the faith journey you have been on, can you identify times that God’s transforming power has been evident? How have you changed because of His sanctifying work?
3. Psalms 105:5a says, “Remember the wondrous works that he has done…” How do you record examples of God’s power at work in your life? If you don’t, consider keeping a journal for this purpose, so you can look back and see how far you’ve come because of His power in your life.