My Grace Is Sufficient
When confronted with someone struggling in this life, it is easy to quote the scripture found in II Corinthians 12:7-9 that states, “My grace is sufficient…” What does that do for the hurting? What does that do for the person dealing with a broken marriage or finances that are in shambles? What does this do for the person who is struggling daily to simply hold it all together? What does it do for the person who cannot bear one more negative thing in their life? What does it do when it seems that, with one more wave, the ship will have taken on more water than she can hold and stay afloat. Down we go into the depths of despair and discouragement. It would seem a bottomless pit with no way out, ever sinking deeper and deeper.
Maybe you are reading this and you or someone you know can relate to what I have written. I want you to know that there is comfort in these words; there is peace and assurance in these words. How? Why? Because Jesus Himself spoke them. Jesus didn’t just cast these words out on the sea of generality. He said them specifically to a man who was broken, who had reached the end of himself. This man was broken physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He was desperately calling on God as a last hope.
In the hour of his despair, in the hour of his discouragement, in one of the greatest struggles of the Apostle Paul’s ministry, Jesus Christ says “no” to Paul’s request for deliverance, but He says “yes” to an abundance of His grace.
It may be today, it may be tomorrow, or it may not be until next year. Despair and discouragement, trial and tribulation, unrest and dissatisfaction will all find you. And when it does find you, where will you turn? To the world for another temporal fix? To yourself to try and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps? When this great disturbance comes, is your relationship to the Lord Jesus one that will allow you to find rest in the sufficiency of His grace?
Barry Campbell
Corporate Chaplain
Newby Management