Sustaining Grace

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Personal Reflection

Sometimes God's providence does not remove the storm.

Instead, He sustains us through it.

Paul pleaded three times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed. God answered, but not as Paul requested. The thorn remained. What God provided was something greater:

Sufficient grace.

We often think God's goodness is demonstrated primarily by deliverance. If He heals the sickness, resolves the problem, restores the relationship, or removes the burden, we readily testify that God has been good.

But what about when the burden remains?

Providence teaches us that God's sustaining grace is every bit as real as His delivering power.

Think about trials you once believed would destroy you.

Yet here you are.

You wept, but God sustained you.

You were frightened, but God sustained you.

You felt weak, but God sustained you.

You did not know how you would endure another day, yet morning after morning new mercy appeared.

Sometimes the greatest evidence of providence is not that God changed our circumstances but that He kept us when our circumstances did not change.

This transforms weakness.

Our weakness becomes the stage upon which Christ displays His strength. We stop boasting in our ability to endure and begin marveling that His grace carried us.

Perhaps you are presently asking God to remove something painful.

Continue asking.

But also pray, “Lord, if You do not remove this today, give me grace sufficient for today.”

He has promised that His grace is enough.

Contemplation

Am I willing to receive sustaining grace when God chooses not to give immediate deliverance?

Puritan Quote

Samuel Rutherford wrote:

“Grace groweth best in winter.”

Prayer

Lord, when You do not remove my burden, carry me beneath it. Let my weakness become an opportunity for the strength of Christ to be displayed. Amen.

Application

Instead of asking only, “Lord, remove this,”add this prayer today: “Lord, give me sufficient grace to glorify You in this.”