2 Corinthians 11:28-33: a reflection

28Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily: anxiety for all the assemblies. 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don’t burn with indignation? 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forever more, knows that I don’t lie. 32In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the Damascenes’ city, desiring to arrest me. 33I was let down in a basket through a window by the wall, and escaped his hands.

After listing all the physical hardships he has endured, Paul names a burden that weighed on him more constantly than any beating or shipwreck: apart from all these things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. His deepest hardship was not what happened to his body but the weight of caring for the people he loved. Who is weak, he asks, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with concern? He carried the struggles of others as his own.

And when Paul chooses what to boast about, it is not his strength but his weakness. He even recalls a humiliating escape, being lowered in a basket through a window to flee Damascus, hardly a heroic image. He glories not in his triumphs but in the things that show his frailty, because he has learned that God's strength shines through human weakness. The great apostle presents himself not as invulnerable but as a man who carried heavy burdens and knew his own limits.

Two things to take from this. First, if you carry the weight of caring for others, worrying over people you love, feeling their struggles as your own, know that you are in good company; even Paul bore this daily pressure. Such caring is costly, but it is the mark of real love. Bring that burden to God, who cares for the ones you carry. Second, do not be ashamed of your weakness. Like Paul, you can let your frailty become the place where God's strength is displayed, boasting not in what you can do but in what God does through your weakness.

Lord, Paul's heaviest burden was his daily anxiety for the people he loved, and he boasted not in his strength but in his weakness. When I carry the weight of caring for others, remind me that such love is costly but good, and help me to bring that burden to you. And teach me not to be ashamed of my weakness, but to let it be the place where your strength is shown. Amen.