Grace Sufficient

“Grace Sufficient”
2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Someone asked President Lincoln if he was troubled by all the parts of the Bible that were so difficult to understand. President Lincoln replied, “No. What concerns me are all the parts I do understand.”

That simple exchanged reveals two important truths. First, there are teachings of Scripture that are fairly straight forward and simple to grasp – such as love God and love your neighbor – that can keep us busy 24/7 for the rest of our lives. And, there are other parts of the Bible that are a mystery to us. If we are not careful we can spend more time trying to solve the mysteries of God than we do fulfilling the commands of God.

In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul says that he has a thorn in his flesh that has caused him great pain. There have been many theories as to what exactly this thorn was—so many theories in fact, that it is impossible to diagnose Paul's situation with complete assurance. But that hasn't stopped people from speculating. Google the phrase "thorn in the flesh" and you will get 316,000 hits. Some have suggested that Paul's thorn came in the form of Jewish persecution, or maybe that Paul's own remembrance of his past was his thorn; Paul's past included the persecution of the church which may have continually haunted him and kept him humble. Some even propose that Paul dealt with either carnal temptation or depression. Others suggest a physical ailment such as malaria, Malta fever, epilepsy, convulsive attacks, and chronic problems with his eyesight.

All of this speculation is evidence of our human need to try and understand everything that touches our lives. We can get so caught up in trying to understand why one person seems blessed and another person has a life of trouble that we miss the point Paul is making when he shared this part of his life. Paul experienced the sufficiency of God’s grace. God has promised His presence is always with us – through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives – and His presence is grace sufficient to meet every need of our life.

Someone said that a person with an experience is not at the mercy of a person with an argument. I think for Paul that meant that neither the arguments of his opposition or the difficulties of his circumstances were able to diminish the sufficiency of his personal experience in God’s grace.

In our present time Matt Redman has captured this thought in his song of praise, “Blessed Be Your Name.” The lyrics include these words:

Blessed Be Your Name;
In the land that is plentiful;
Where your streams of abundance flow;
Blessed be your name

Blessed Be Your name;
When I'm found in the desert place;
Though I walk through the wilderness;
Blessed Be Your name
Blessed be Your name;
When the sun's shining down on me;
When the world's 'all as it should be';
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name;
On the road marked with suffering;
Though there's pain in the offering;
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing you pour out;
I'll turn back to praise;
When the darkness closes in;
Still I will say;
Blessed be the name of the Lord

Selah,
Alex

“Dandelions”

“A man who took great pride in his lawn found himself with a large crop of dandelions. He tried every method he knew to get rid of them. Still they plagued him. Finally he wrote the Department of Agriculture. He enumerated all the things he had tried and closed his letter with the question: “What shall I do now?”

In due course the reply came: “We suggest you learn to love them.”

“I too had a lawn I prided myself on and I too was plagued with dandelions that I fought with every means in my power. So learning to love them was no easy matter. I began by talking to them each day. Cordial. Friendly. They maintained a sullen silence. They were smarting form the war I had waged against them and were suspicious of my motives. But it wasn’t long before they smiled back. And relaxed. Soon we were good friends. My lawn, of course, was ruined. But, how attractive my garden became.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“He was becoming blind by degrees. He fought it with every means in his power. When medicine no longer served to fight it, he fought it with his emotions. It took courage to say to him, "I suggest you learn to love your blindness.”

It was a struggle. He refused to have anything to do with it in the beginning. And when he eventually brought himself to speak to his blindness his words were bitter. But he kept on speaking and the words slowly changed into words of resignation and tolerance and acceptance . . and, one day, very much to his own surprise, they became words of friendliness . . . and love. Then came the day when he was able to put his arm around his blindness and say, “I love you.”

That was the day I saw him smile again. His vision, of course, was lost forever.

But how attractive his face became!”

(Anthony DeMello, “The Song of the Bird”)

***
"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 on me." (2 Cor 12:8-9 NIV)

Is there anything in your life that you need God to help you love?

\O/

Selah

Alex