My grace is sufficient for you
How often have we as believers heard those words? I'm sure that many among the conservative homeschool crowd have embraced their pioneer wannabe-ness and slapped it on a sampler of some sort as they learned how to cross stitch. Sorry. I felt the need to throw that in there. :P
How many believers know the context of this verse?
Aha! Ok, now we can have a real discussion about real life applications. Boom! Excited yet? I sure am! Alright, let's dig in...
My last post was focused on how poor my attitude had been of late. And as I'm well aware, this is the one lesson that I have to continually revisit. But I went to a speech and debate tournament this past weekend!
What in tarnation does that have to do with diddly squat? Please. Allow me to explain.
I judged many different speech categories while I was there. Among these was apologetics, where the students have 4 minutes to prepare a 6 minute speech for the judges. One young lady worked 2 Corinthians 12:9 into her speech, and she did a phenomenal job of applying it correctly.
The context of the verse is that Paul was given a thorn in his flesh, so to speak, to keep him from becoming conceited. That is, he had a weakness that he pleaded to be removed from him three times. God's answer? "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." To which Paul responds, "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. 12:9-10)
For the first time in my life, I heard that verse as a rebuke of sorts. God leaves no room for question. That's it. His grace is what we get. But if we realized how much grace we're surrounded in, I think perhaps we'd have the understanding that of course His grace is sufficient! How could we possibly desire anything else?
And with that perspective, it doesn't matter what terrible task we've been commissioned with, what job we're working, how many unlovable people we find in our lives, or what sort of place we may be living in. His grace is sufficient, because at the end of the day, it's really not about you anyway. It's all about Him. And it's through those dreaded instances that He makes something that looks more like Him in you.
But that takes a right understanding of what grace is in the first place - unmerited favor of God
I think if I spend a decent amount of time reminding myself of God's grace, what it is, and how it changed/is changing my life, I would never complain again of anything else. That is what is key to a right attitude.
Oh God, help me begin to understand how much grace you offer and how truly sufficient it is.
How often have we as believers heard those words? I'm sure that many among the conservative homeschool crowd have embraced their pioneer wannabe-ness and slapped it on a sampler of some sort as they learned how to cross stitch. Sorry. I felt the need to throw that in there. :P
How many believers know the context of this verse?
Aha! Ok, now we can have a real discussion about real life applications. Boom! Excited yet? I sure am! Alright, let's dig in...
My last post was focused on how poor my attitude had been of late. And as I'm well aware, this is the one lesson that I have to continually revisit. But I went to a speech and debate tournament this past weekend!
What in tarnation does that have to do with diddly squat? Please. Allow me to explain.
I judged many different speech categories while I was there. Among these was apologetics, where the students have 4 minutes to prepare a 6 minute speech for the judges. One young lady worked 2 Corinthians 12:9 into her speech, and she did a phenomenal job of applying it correctly.
The context of the verse is that Paul was given a thorn in his flesh, so to speak, to keep him from becoming conceited. That is, he had a weakness that he pleaded to be removed from him three times. God's answer? "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." To which Paul responds, "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. 12:9-10)
For the first time in my life, I heard that verse as a rebuke of sorts. God leaves no room for question. That's it. His grace is what we get. But if we realized how much grace we're surrounded in, I think perhaps we'd have the understanding that of course His grace is sufficient! How could we possibly desire anything else?
And with that perspective, it doesn't matter what terrible task we've been commissioned with, what job we're working, how many unlovable people we find in our lives, or what sort of place we may be living in. His grace is sufficient, because at the end of the day, it's really not about you anyway. It's all about Him. And it's through those dreaded instances that He makes something that looks more like Him in you.
But that takes a right understanding of what grace is in the first place - unmerited favor of God
I think if I spend a decent amount of time reminding myself of God's grace, what it is, and how it changed/is changing my life, I would never complain again of anything else. That is what is key to a right attitude.
Oh God, help me begin to understand how much grace you offer and how truly sufficient it is.
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