2 Cor. 12:8-9 (NLT) - “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
The Christian journey can be full of challenges and sometimes doubts and fear. We sometimes feel we are all alone in whatever circumstance or situation we are going through. At other times we do not know who or where to turn. Most times we are confronted by the challenges of sharing the word and winning souls. There are times we are confronted with issues of finances and lack, challenges of sickness in the family, challenges of loss of jobs, childlessness and many more. Sometimes we even doubt if God really is in charge in all of this and questions might even arise, why me?
Paul had encountered Jesus in such a spectacular way, such a special way. This same Paul tells us that he was taken to the third heaven. This same Paul in some of his epistles narrates his beating, his escapes from death, his imprisonments, his shipwreck. He had to go through numerous challenges in his own personal life.
Paul knew the gravity of Grace in the book of Ephesians he made it clear that we have all been saved by Grace. In the book of 2nd Corinthians, he encourages us as fellow workers of God not to take this Grace in vain.
In the book of Hebrews, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Heb. 4:16 NLT), we are encouraged to boldly approach the throne of Grace to obtain mercy, something that King David understood as he recognised the benefits that come from God's grace. He realised that these benefits were not based on how good he was but on God's unmerited favour.
Even when we have missed it in our Christian walk, it is His grace that enables us to approach His throne and obtain Mercy. The grace of God is unlimited; it is there for every situation and circumstance.
We are saved by His grace (Ephesians 2:8), it is not by what we did or what we can do, it is God's unmerited favour.
We are justified by His grace (Romans 8:33), who can bring a charge against us, we did not deserve but by His grace we have being justified, just as if we never sinned. We are justified not based on works but on repentance.
It is very interesting that Paul in all his challenges cries out to God for help, but the only response he received was “My grace is sufficient for you".
He knows what our challenges are and has given us his unlimited grace to enable us go through all our challenges and live a victorious Christian life.
His grace supplies strength to every area of our lives. Whoa! What awesomeness. It is only when we depend on His grace that we can appreciate it and be strengthened by it. In our weakness His grace is made available.
Praise God for His grace.
