“My Grace is Sufficient”

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Cor. 12:7-10 (ESV)

Chapter 12, verses 7-10 are very familiar to most of us, this is the passage where Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh”, how he asked God to remove it three times and each time the Lord responded “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”(verse 9). Or as the New Living Translation says, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” You can read this verse in various translations, and they all say, “My grace is all you need.” So, let’s consider a moment and ask ourselves whether God’s grace is sufficient for us? I know it is pretty easy to say things are going well for us, but when problems come our way, do we still believe that?

Did you notice that it took Paul hearing the same message from God three times before he realized what God was telling him? Paul says in verse 8, “I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” Of course, he was speaking of the “thorn in the flesh” that was given to him. What? The Apostle Paul had to hear from God three times before he realized this truth, that our sufficiency is only in God’s grace, not in our own ability. The word that Paul uses for his request to the Lord is translated in the KJV as ‘besought’, in the ESV as ‘pleaded’, and is also translated as ‘asked and prayed’. The original Greek is a compound word that means “to call from close beside”. This was not a casual conversation but a serious plea that Paul made to his Lord to remove this problem so Paul could be more effective in his service for Christ. But Paul did not get the answer he wanted; he got the answer he needed to hear.

All too often, we try to “muscle” our way through a problem and rely on our own resources and strength to get to where we think God wants us to go. Now, please understand that there is nothing wrong with using the resources that God gives us. After all, He is the one who gives gifts to His people, and we should use those gifts for His glory. But when we aren’t getting the results we think we need, and after we’ve taken this problem to the Lord and we have ‘beseeched’, or ‘entreated’, or “called upon the Lord from close beside Him”, and we still don’t get the result or the answer we want, maybe we need to stop talking and start listening. Maybe God is telling us the same thing He told Paul three times: “My grace is sufficient for you.” God may be telling us that we need to learn to depend on Him and His strength. So like Paul, we can say, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. There I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (vs. 9-10).

But what really hit me was that Paul had to hear this message three times before he was “content” with his limitations. But God’s grace is all that he needed; God’s grace is all that we need. It’s just a lesson that we must learn, just like Paul.

So, do we really believe that God’s grace is sufficient for us? It is a fact that God’s grace is all we need.  Now it may take each of us more than one hearing of this truth, just as it did for Paul. Still, once we realize it is God who is faithful and that it is God’s grace that sustains us and enables us to see His mighty hand at work, we should quit fighting Him and accept His goodness and grace. We will be able to say like the Apostle Paul, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

So, do we really believe that God’s grace is sufficient for us? I know it’s a truth that I’m learning, and it’s amazing to see God use His people to show His power.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"