MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT - PART II
“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.”
—II Corinthians 12:9
Not that long ago, I was flipping through the television channels and came upon a particular Christian program, and I decided to stop and see what the preacher was saying. After a few minutes of watching, he made a statement that bothered me greatly—a statement that no doubt has caused problems within the Christian community. I don’t recall the exact wording that was used, but the gist of what he stated was this: “If you have enough faith in your life, you will never experience another problem in your life.” From where did this brother get this idea? Not from the Word of God, because you will not find anything like that in its contents. Of course, you and I know that whatever was being said was not, and is not, true. Having enough faith does not mean that you will never have another problem in life. Really, it’s not about the quantity of faith, but rather the quality of faith. In other words, it is not about how much faith you have, but rather what your faith is in.
As we have stated earlier, Paul had experienced some very difficult times in his life, in which he had asked the Lord to take those things away. However, instead of removing those issues, the Lord spoke and said, “My grace is sufficient.” Grace is simply the goodness of God given to undeserving man. As well, everything we receive from God comes to us through the avenue of grace, and in this instance, grace is enabling grace. This type of grace is given to us to withstand the attacks of the Evil One, and through it all, to stand. This means that whatever you go through in life, His grace is sufficient—enough for you to make it through your trial. Not only is it sufficient, but it will never be insufficient, which means that it will never abandon you when you need it most. When the enemy comes in with his fiery darts aimed against you, and you feel the pressure of that same enemy bearing down upon you, the grace of God will be parceled out so that you can stand and meet that attack.
Why Does God Allow Us To Go Through The Storms Of Life?
This question is one that I, and many other Christians have asked ourselves at some point in our lives. Before I get into what I believe is the right answer, let me say to you that you are not alone in whatever you are going through. The devil makes it easy for us to believe that we are alone, and that no one else has ever gone through what we are going through. But remember this: you are not alone. No matter what you are currently facing right now, there are others who have come through that very same thing, and they did it by trusting the Lord. In God’s ultimate display of grace, He oftentimes does not remove the trial at hand, but He allows it to teach us trust and dependence upon Him.
When it comes to our Christian experience, how are we to actually grow spiritually if we never undergo difficulties? How can we truly depend upon the Lord when we haven’t been faced with opposition to the point that it forces us to depend upon Him? You will hear me say quite often that everything that we go through in life is either caused or allowed by God to happen, and it’s done to teach us to trust and depend upon Him. And it is through the problems of life that we may have no other alternative except to trust Him. So, instead of asking why, maybe instead ask what, as in “What are you trying to teach me, Lord?”
Allow me to add one thing to the previous paragraph, and that is that every person is different, which means that our level of testing will be different. Like in school, a fifth-grader will not take a test on material that is designed for an eighth-grader. Likewise, when it comes to the believer, the level of test or trial is predicated on the call of God on a person’s life, and their level of spiritual maturity.
The Cross
There may be situations in life that feel absolutely unbearable, and no doubt those moments will come. But these are the moments that we must know in our hearts that God has allowed them for a reason, and that He has made a way of escape for those who trust Him. That way is the cross. We must understand that the cross of Christ continue to be appropriated each and every single day of our lives, knowing that it was there that the tremendous sin debt that hung over us was completely paid for, and that the grip of sin was broken. By evidencing faith in Christ and the cross, this allows the Holy Spirit to work within our lives to bring about the work that is necessary. To say it differently, whatever we are going through in life, the cross is the answer. No, it is not a magic potion, or a mantra that we quote every day, but it’s understanding that what Christ did provided us with the means to obtain the victory that we are desperately seeking for. The victory over that problem in life cannot occur without our faith being anchored in Christ, it’s utterly impossible. If we try and overcome this thorn in the flesh through our own strength, we will fail every single time. Christ has already overcome that issue, all we must do is believe daily.
Glory In My Infirmities
When it comes to the flesh, we are all weak, and we cannot bring about what is needed within our own strength and ability, which means that in order to experience what we need, we must trust and depend on Him and His work, as we have previously stated. Paul is saying that God had allowed him to go through these trials of life for a specific purpose, which in turn made his heart glad seeing that the Holy Spirit revealed to him the value of his weakness. When we understand the grace of God through the means of the cross, we can surely say, “In my weakness, He is made strong.” Our weaknesses are covered and hidden by the blood of Jesus Christ, and as long as we continue to trust in Him, we can, we will, and we are going to make it. Believe that!
Share this Post
No one has commented on this article yet. Leave your comment below!
0 Comments