2 Corinthians 12:10
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
The journey to pleasure has been fraudulently twisted by advertisers and Hollywood. One would think that pleasure comes with no adversity in life. One would think that vice, wealth or possessions are the key to pleasure, but this is not true. You will find in 2 Corinthians 12 that there is a journey to pleasure. This journey is oftentimes hated and avoided, but you will never have true pleasure in life without taking the journey God prescribes to pleasure. Let me show you several steps on this journey.
First, trials will come. You are going to have to accept that you will have trials in life. Paul said in verse 7, “…there was given to me a thorn in the flesh…” You can either accept that trials are going to come or you can foolishly bury your head in the sand, but you will never have true pleasure until you accept that you are going to have trials.
The second step is the rejection of trials. Paul said in verse 8, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.” This is the normal process that everyone goes through. When your trials come, you don’t like how uncomfortable it makes you and your flesh will try to reject it. It is what you do at the end of this step that truly determines whether you find pleasure in life.
The third step is that you ask God to remove it. You will notice in verse 8 that Paul asked God three times to remove the trial. There is nothing wrong with this. You should run to God for help with your trials, but you need to make sure you accept what God tells you to do with the trials. Though you may be asking God to remove the trial, the right action was made by going to God. Only He can help you with it.
The fourth step is accepting God’s grace to deal with it. God replied to Paul in verse 9 by saying, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” I don’t know whether God will ever remove your trials, but you must deal with it by God’s grace. Realize that the grace of God is what gives you the strength to deal with your trial on a daily basis. Claim God’s grace and understand that He has given you enough grace to bear your trial.
The fifth step is letting the trial perform its purpose in you. The purpose of the trial is to keep you humble and reliant upon God. This is so important because pride will destroy us. God knows that we need trials to keep us humble and dependent upon Him. When you accept God’s grace for dealing with trials, you will realize that you cannot make it without Him and it humbles you so that He can use you.
The sixth and final step is to let God work through your weakness. Notice in the verse above that God becomes strong through your weakness. In other words, God takes what has made you weak and performs a great work through you. All throughout the Scriptures God worked through the weaknesses of individuals. The ultimate purpose of your trial is that God uses it to do a mighty work through you so that He can receive the glory.
Friend, this is the journey to true pleasure. When you look back and realize that you conquered your trial and it didn’t conquer you, then you look at it with pleasure. It is a pleasure that God would use you to do His mighty work. You would have never had this pleasure without your trials. I don’t know where you are on this journey, but keep taking the next step and you will see the pleasure God is trying to give you through your trials if you keep going.