“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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
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Richard John Vitale is now 84 years old — most people know him as Dick Vitale or Dickie V. He usually has more to say than anybody else as a sports announcer for college basketball since 1979, but he is recovering from vocal cord cancer. He can write words on an eraser board, but can’t speak above a whisper. He’s undergone surgery and hopes to get his voice back — and get back on television — but he doesn’t know if his voice will return. He may be forced to permanently retire from doing what he enjoys to the fullest.
Vitale’s recent bouts with cancer are not his first health problems. When Dick was a child, he had an accident with a pencil and lost sight in his left eye. It got worse because that left eye moved about uncontrollably for years. When children and adults saw his strange eye, they often bullied him. However, his parents helped him overcome his disability by encouraging him to keep a positive attitude and to put great effort into whatever he did. These wonderful parents helped him become an inspiration to millions of people worldwide.
When Vitale was fired as coach of the Detroit Pistons after successful seasons as a high school and college basketball coach, his enthusiasm got him hired by ESPN in 1979, when the network first started. The roving eye was still a sore spot, but a doctor performed surgery to stop it from moving. He doesn’t worry about his weaknesses; he enjoys life. Though Vitale played little league baseball for a short time, his eye problem prevented him from playing basketball. But nobody knows the game better or loves it more.
In a similar way, the apostle Paul overcame problems to influence a large number of people. After Paul prayed several times for God to take away his pain and the problem remained, the Lord taught Paul to keep a good attitude and to make the best of the situation. “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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Don’t let your weaknesses keep you from what you were made to do, whatever that is. Trust that His grace is sufficient for you, and that His power will fill in the gaps of your weaknesses and make you stronger through Him.
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia
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