Sufficient Grace
Recently, our church had a fantastic guest pastor share the pulpit and the message really touched me. Jason Standfield preached on learning to surrender the outcome. His sermon was based around the testimony of Paul in the New Testament. Paul is one of the many authors of the Bible who wrote several letters to different churches at the time. One of those letters was to the church in Corinth. Paul suffered greatly for the sake of the Gospel. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 we understand more about what he endured. “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the 39 lashes. Three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits; in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” Paul is boasting here to prove that whatever anyone else boasts about, Paul has been through it too. In this boasting, he is sharing his weaknesses. These are not bragging rights about money, fame, or property. These are events that point to the strength of God. When I am teaching or working with kids, I tell them that they should be proud of their accomplishments. Extra practice to make the varsity team, studying every night for a final exam and getting an A, and applying and interviewing for a job are all things to be proud of. It’s okay to be proud of those things! The sinful part of boasting is when it becomes higher than God. When those boasts become elevated above everything else, including a relationship with God, then that is when “pride comes before the fall”.
Paul continues to write about not just the physical sufferings he has burdened, but the spiritual and mental trials in chapter 12. This has become exhausting for Paul. All of these sufferings, beatings, hunger, and imprisonment are adding up. In 2 Corinthians 12:8 Paul pleaded with the Lord three times for Him to take it all away. The Lord responded with one of the most quoted phrases in the Bible, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Whoa! Because Paul was such a devoted and loyal follower of the Lord, he took what He said and boasted all the more gladly about his weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on him. I can just imagine Paul overhearing people complaining about hardship and comforting them in this message. Life was rough for Paul. Life is probably rough for you sometimes. In our weakness, God is strong! The writings of Paul were intended to reach the hearts of this church, but the wisdom holds up so strongly. The church was focused in the wrong direction: style over substance. In this moment of raw emotion, Paul writes this letter to help them to re-orientate them to a relationship with Christ. Of course Paul is frustrated with them because they are doing things that are not at all what the Lord commanded. This is the second letter Paul has written to the church in Corinth– and these are long letters! Paul has seen incredible things despite these calamities. He has seen people healed, prayers answered with yes, and families reunited. He didn’t just have faith, he also had certainty. So when Paul pleads to the Lord to take away the suffering, it comes from experience knowing that the Lord very well could save him from those crippling hardships. “My grace is sufficient” was God’s way of answering Paul’s pleas with a wait, not yet and in that waiting, Paul had a shift in perspective. These were serious hardships that Paul suffered through. Do not downplay the hardships that you are going through, but embrace God through them. There is nothing you did to deserve it. How we handle weakness reflects on God’s strength. And I think you will find how much God can endure with you over and over again.
