His Grace Is Sufficient
"It'll be over soon." "Nothing lasts forever." "This will pass."
Those are lines we get thrown from people and society when times are tough. If we are the person struggling those comments can sometimes give us some sense of hope. They give vision to a more happy future. And when we are in the middle of a storm, hope of the storm ceasing is something we long for.
But what if the goal isn't just getting to the finish line, but rather it is the purpose in the pain? If anyone has anything to say about this, it would be Paul. He was constantly under persecution yet he still dedicated his life to the spreading of the gospel. In the book of 2 Corinthians Paul writes about his vision/revelations from the Lord and his thorn. He writes,"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 upon 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."
What this shows me is that while God loves to shower us with seasons of joy, sometimes He can reveal more of Himself to us through seasons of struggle. As badly as we may want our storms to pass, His power is made perfect in that storm. When we have no faith to keep going, that is when God shows up and does the impossible. It may not be this huge orchestrated event (although it could be). Sometimes it's as simple as the Lord providing us enough strength to make it through the day. That in and of itself is a miracle. Too often we write situations off as luck, chance, or coincidence, when in actuality it is the Lord's hand that made it all happen.
God's grace is upon us every day, we just have to have the eyes to see it. His grace for us is more than sufficient. So when we are in the midst of what seems like a hopeless circumstance, rather than keeping a laser focus on the end, keep a focus on God and His grace. Focus on how his power is being made perfect in our weakness. Not only will this give all glory to God, but also it will lighten the burden of our season. It will change our perspective and reveal the sufficiency of our Lord.
