My grace is sufficient for you...
--2 Corinthians 12:9
Do you need grace today? I'll ask another way: Do you need power? We tend to think of grace in terms of covering our inadequacies, a balm applied to our failures. But grace is and does much more.
It is by grace that we are not given what we deserve. It is by grace that we are given what we do not deserve.
As James puts it:
Q: How powerful is grace?
A: It is sufficient.
Wait, shouldn't this covering and empowering grace be overwhelmingly abundant? Shouldn't God cover a "3" on the need-grace scale with a "10" measure of grace? Shouldn't there be puddles of grace everywhere around after the grace shower rains down; so we can scoop a little extra up and store it away for use later?
Grace doesn't work like that. (Think manna from heaven; Exodus 16 - it's worth a read). New grace is given each day; actually moment by moment. Leftover grace - if there were such a thing - would spoil. And future grace, though promised, cannot be utilized. Today's grace... this moment's grace is sufficient for you. It is sufficient to completely cover, completely forgive, completely empower.
And how strong must we be? Well, our part is to rely on God's grace. To lean on and into his power. Our job is to embrace weakness and trust his strength. God says:
It would be easy to write of God's sufficient grace at certain times. This is not one of those times. It is a time when the preacher (or blogger, as the case may be) must hear and apply what he is writing. (Actually, every time is that time.)
God, I am weak, but you are strong. I need your sufficient grace in this moment.
For now...
D
--2 Corinthians 12:9
Do you need grace today? I'll ask another way: Do you need power? We tend to think of grace in terms of covering our inadequacies, a balm applied to our failures. But grace is and does much more.
It is by grace that we are not given what we deserve. It is by grace that we are given what we do not deserve.
As James puts it:
Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights
with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
--James 1:17
Q: How powerful is grace?
A: It is sufficient.
Wait, shouldn't this covering and empowering grace be overwhelmingly abundant? Shouldn't God cover a "3" on the need-grace scale with a "10" measure of grace? Shouldn't there be puddles of grace everywhere around after the grace shower rains down; so we can scoop a little extra up and store it away for use later?
Grace doesn't work like that. (Think manna from heaven; Exodus 16 - it's worth a read). New grace is given each day; actually moment by moment. Leftover grace - if there were such a thing - would spoil. And future grace, though promised, cannot be utilized. Today's grace... this moment's grace is sufficient for you. It is sufficient to completely cover, completely forgive, completely empower.
And how strong must we be? Well, our part is to rely on God's grace. To lean on and into his power. Our job is to embrace weakness and trust his strength. God says:
...my power is made perfect in weakness.
--2 Corinthians 12:9
It would be easy to write of God's sufficient grace at certain times. This is not one of those times. It is a time when the preacher (or blogger, as the case may be) must hear and apply what he is writing. (Actually, every time is that time.)
God, I am weak, but you are strong. I need your sufficient grace in this moment.
For now...
D
