Never Give a Sword to a Man That Can't Dance (Part II)

⁷ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. ⁸ Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

So, here Paul is with a “thorn in the flesh”.  I don’t know what that really means.  Today we would just say I’ve got a bad cut in my arm or a broken leg or maybe migraine headaches.  Since he was not specific about it, I wonder if it wasn’t something unseen but of the flesh nonetheless like anger, pride, or lust.  Pride would make sense with the other descriptions regarding being “exalted above measure”.  Maybe something that was of the flesh that he could recognize as not of God but couldn’t handle it well himself.  Again, I’m not sure we’ll ever know.  The thing to know is that Paul was in some kind of pain and it was staying with him.

There is an old Celtic proverb which says, “Never give a sword to a man that can’t dance.”  I found that quote very interesting.  What exactly did that mean and did it have a spiritual application?  The next day I read these verses and got a glimpse into an aspect of it that I enjoyed considering and the thoughts of it have stayed on my mind.  I wish I could say I have all my thoughts are well thought out, but I don’t.  I still want to share what I do have however.

The most scripted sermon from these verses is usually preceded by the song “Power in the Blood”.  The sermon then explains that God was telling Paul that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  That is, when we decide to allow God to be the ONLY solution to our life, His strength is made perfect in our life.  When we say, “God if you are not the solution to this, then there is no solution” we put ourselves in position to allow God’s work to be perfect and for Him to do something impossible (at least in our eyes).  Then at the end of this passage he writes that by his being weak, he is strong because it is God who is doing the work.  Paul is at his strongest when he admits to himself that the only perfect work that can be done is God’s work, so through submission and service (weak in the world’s eyes) to His Heavenly Father, he is made strong through God being God.  This is the message I hear most from these verses and there is nothing wrong with this message and it is an awesome message that applies to our daily life and if we get a hold of it, will change the strength of our faith, but I think there is more there.  This sermon is then followed with the song “Trust and Obey” and an alter call. ... Sometimes I find myself longing for one of those “old-timey” services again.

Still not getting the “never give a sword to a man that can’t dance” connection?  You’d be a daisy if you did.