"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE GRACE OF GOD"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE GRACE OF GOD"

(Taken from today's Reading in The One Year Bible 9/11/14)

2nd Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Some explanatory thoughts, applications, questions and a prayer:

Paul had a problem, and God was helping with his problem. His problem was that he might get lifted up in pride because of the experience he had of being taken up into the 3rd heaven (where he saw and heard things that it was not lawful for him to talk about).
God knew that this wonderful experience might cause him to be lifted up in pride, so the Lord allowed a messenger of satan to afflict Paul with some terrible affliction. Paul asked the Lord over and over again to take this affliction away, and God's answer to him is found in the verse we are looking at today. So, let's break this verse down and see how it might apply in our lives.

1. God does speak to His people.

2nd Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Paul had talked to the Lord many times about this particular affliction. He had really asked God to remove this from him. It was very, very painful for him to have this affliction.

God answered Paul's prayer. The answer is recorded in the verse,

God hears your prayers, and God will answer your prayers if you will wait upon Him.
He promises to hear and answer prayers that are prayed in His name, (according to His will).

2. God has grace for His people that is sufficient for them.

2nd Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God not only hears and answers prayers, but He often does so in unexpected ways.
Such was the case with Paul.

Notice what God said to Paul. "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”.
What a wonderful fit between human affliction and divine help and comfort.

God's grace is sufficient, which means it's all we need to deal with our problems.
Here's how this reads in the NLT:
2nd Cor 12:9 Each time he said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me.

3. God's grace is made perfect in our weakness.

2nd Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

It's interesting to note how our weakness's and God's grace match so perfectly.
We have problems and God has grace that fits our problems perfectly.

This is what Paul discovered. That rather than God removing his problem, God was going to give him grace that would work to help him in his weakness, or his affliction and problem.

4. God's people can approach their problems in a different way because of God's grace.

2nd Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Paul came to realize that if it is true that God gives grace in my problem, then I can rejoice in my problems, because God is going to give me grace which will help me and be more than enough for me.

This changed Paul's entire view and reaction towards his problems. He actually boasted now in his infirmities, because he came to realize that it was during those times that God's grace and power would rest upon him.

Questions:

1. What is your response to this particular verse?

2. Do you feel you understand what Paul was saying here?

3. How would you describe what is being said?

4. Are you having infirmities and difficulties at this time?

5. Will you ask God for His grace and power to rest upon you to help you?

A Prayer:

Father, this is certainly a wonderful and very personal look into the life of the apostle Paul. We often think of these people as super saints if you will. But they were people just like the rest of us. They had blessings and they had buffetings. We have blessings and we have buffetings also. Satan will attack us just as he did Paul and others. But, You have grace that is sufficient and appropriate for us.
With that truth in mind, Lord, help us to adopt the attitude of faith that Paul had. Help us, Lord, to boast and rejoice in times of difficulties because we know that it's in those times we can expect you to really help us out. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia