My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.–2Corinthians 12:9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.-Ephesians 2:8

But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.-James 4:6-7

 

Your Grace is Enough

 

I am so happy, I Lord
That your Grace is enough;
And I’m so relieved, Lord,
To rest safely in your Love.
I have had such struggles, Lord
I’ve fought and kicked and clawed.
But I can let that go now
Allow my heart begin to thaw.
My newborn faith, Lord,
Is more than mere caprice.
It has allowed me to have courage
And it provides a long-sought peace.
I seek to serve you, Lord,
As I have never done before.
Please accept my commitment
And allow my life to be restored.
I thank you for your Grace, Lord,
Which, for so long, I did not see.
I don’t deserve its power
To perform miracles in me.
But from this day forward,
I will walk in Love with you.
My life is in your hands Lord
To do with what you will do.
©Linda Troxell 07/31/2017

 

God’s grace is sufficient; God’s grace is all you need; God’s grace will see you through. I wish I had a dollar, as they say, for every time that I’ve heard an expression like this, about the grace of God, since I have become a Christian. If I did, I’d be rich indeed. However, if I received a dollar only for every time someone explained to me what it means, well I’d be a pauper. Even though the scripture that phrase comes from,                 2 Corinthians 12:9, where God tells Paul “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” is a go-to verse for Christians, and even though it is used to comfort Christians in pain, no one has ever told me what it actually means. What, exactly, is God’s grace and what is it sufficient for?  We are taught that grace means unearned or unmerited favor or approval that is a gift. And, of course, sufficient means enough; a quantity that will meet a need or standard. So, taking the sentence literally we know that God gave Paul an unearned and undeserved favor or gift and that gift was enough to meet Paul’s need. But what was the gift and what need was it sufficient for, a specific need, a limited need, all need? Well, I went to chapter 12 in Corinthians and tried to discover the answer to those questions.

At the time that Paul was establishing the church, Corinth was a place in which sins, such as prostitution, idol worship, sexual immorality and more, were common to the culture. The people of the church at Corinth were having difficulty restraining themselves from the practice of these cultural norms. Paul was trying to encourage these new Christians to a Godlier standard. As a demonstration to the church that he struggled, just as they, struggled, Paul told the Corinthians of a thorn in his flesh sent to him by God to keep him from conceit. He shared that he had asked God to remove the thorn and God’s response was the famous “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” -2 Corinthians 12:9. On the surface, and if taken literally, Paul is asking God to relieve some kind of physical pain. In that context, the meaning of God’s answer is, of course, that God’s grace is sufficient for Paul to tolerate the pain of the thorn in his side and complete his work in Corinth. However, in sharing this with the church I don’t think Paul was interested in the literal meaning of God’s message. I think that he shared this story of the thorn with the church as a way of showing them that he, like they, had struggled with sin. By comparing his struggle of the thorn in his side to their struggle with the temptation to indulge in sinful cultural norms, He illustrated for the Corinthians that even though God may not remove our struggles when we ask Him to, He will always give us the grace to tolerate them.

Then again, perhaps the thorn in Paul’s side was, in fact, the Corinthians themselves. The members of the church were questioning his authority and power to speak on God’s behalf, therefore, Paul was distressed at his lack of progress with the Corinthians. This lack of progress caused Paul to fear that he was failing in his mission to inspire the church to turn from sin. It makes sense that this idea of failure would leave Paul feeling insecure and perhaps lead him to ask God to relieve him of this mission, which perhaps was the thorn. So, in a broader context, maybe God was telling Paul that in the weakness of his insecurity God was able to work perfectly through him. Perhaps reminding him that because success or failure was God’s to determine, God’s grace was sufficient for Paul to remain steadfast in the face of the resistance of the church. Finally, maybe God, being the loving Father that He always is, was also trying to give Paul confidence by reminding him that God’s grace was sufficient to meet Paul’s need for security and approval.

Of course, all of this is only conjecture and even if any or all of the assumptions are correct, what does all of this have to do with us? How does God’s assurance to Paul relate to the modern Christians dealing with the modern world? Well, all speculation aside, I believe that, in the end, God’s promise to Paul is that His grace is sufficient for all things at all times and that only when we are weak and give into God, can His power be perfect. By extension, I believe that the same things He promised to Paul in Corinth, He also promises to us, today. He promises that His grace is sufficient to support us in any physical pain that might afflict us; sufficient to comfort us through any emotional pain we might suffer and sufficient to comfort us in any confusion or despair life might bring to us. For we will all suffer from a thorn in our side at some time. And we will all have need of God’s grace to tolerate that thorn. As Christians, we all have a mandate to minister, in some form, to those in need. And God promises us that His grace is sufficient to empower us, as it empowered Paul, to be successful in our own ministry whatever it’s form or extent. Finally, I believe God promises us, as He promised Paul, that His grace is sufficient to meet our need for security. Whenever we feel unloved, unwanted, insecure or afraid, as we all will at some time, His grace is sufficient for us to know that we are not alone, nor unloved; for we can be secure in the love and safety of our God.

So, in the end, after all of that, I guess God’s message to Paul, that His grace is sufficient for him, is just what it might appear at first glance. His grace was sufficient to meet all of Paul’s needs, and by extension, it can meet all of our needs as well. It is a reminder that only in our weakness are we fully dependent on God; therefore in our weakness, His power is perfect. Because His grace is sufficient for all things and because His power is made perfect in our weakness it is by grace that we can we lean fully on Him for any strength, courage or wisdom we might be lacking. God brought each of us to this earth on a journey to know Him. However, He also brought us here with a calling to make Him known to others. How He has it planned for each of us to do that may be different among us, but God’s promise for each of us, that His grace is sufficient for us to meet that calling is the same. With that knowledge, we can go about doing the work that God has assigned to us with complete confidence and peace of mind.

Points for Prayer and Pondering

 

1. Do you now have, or have you ever, had “a thorn in your side” that you asked God to remove but he would not? How are you or did you tolerate it?
2. There are many things in life that we think we could not survive if they were to happen to us. Think back through your life and list a few things you have survived which you would have thought you could not.
3. Did you pray for God’s help, His grace in the midst of these things? Do you believe that God’s grace sustained you through them? If not, what do you think got you through those things?