Bible verse
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 · BSB
Whatever the thorn was, Paul wanted it gone and said so repeatedly. The answer he got was not the removal but a sentence: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness."
What changed afterwards was what he did with the weakness. He stopped hiding it. "I will boast all the more gladly" is a strange thing to write unless you have decided the weak place is where the power arrives rather than the obstacle to it.
This is the passage to read when the healing has not come.
The verses around it, from 2 Corinthians 12.
5 I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses.
6 Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me,
7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
11 I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
12 The true marks of an apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles—were performed among you with great perseverance.
13 In what way were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
KJV
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
ASV
And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
ERV
And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.