Isaiah 27-28, 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10, Psalm 133
2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 (ESV)
“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.”
Verses 9 through 10 from 2 Corinthians 12 shows God’s
response to Paul when he asked him to take a thorn from him. Paul had begged
God three times to take the thorn away. God’s told Paul that “my grace if
sufficient for you.” Paul’s situation is something I think everyone has in
their life - a “thorn” or some kind of problem that people of faith have been
praying to God to take away in their life. That “thorn” can be an illness, lack
of money or some kind of lack, a feeling of doubt against God, or any number of
things. I have a “thorn” in my life that I have been praying about since 2018,
and God has not taken the issue away.
I have read many bible commentaries on these verses, and
they say the same thing that I am wresting with today. God sometimes does not
remove the “thorns” in our lives, because he is trying to strengthen us and
deepen our faith in his grace. Pastor David Guzik wrote on these verses that “We
really don’t believe God’s grace is sufficient until we believe we are
insufficient. For many of us, especially in American culture, this is a huge
obstacle. We are the people who idolize the “self-made man” and want to rely on
ourselves. But we can’t receive God’s strength until we know our weakness. We
can’t receive the sufficiency of God’s grace until we know our own
insufficiency.”
I know God is telling that me that only “God’s grace is enough
for me.” I cannot rely on myself or other people; I need to only rely on God
for everything in my life. This is a hard lesson for me, and I am relying on
God’s grace to help me understand why knowing my own insufficiency is a good
thing and not a bad thing. I know I need to rely only of God for everything in
my life, and I pray to God every day to help me know that God’s grace is enough
for me.
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