God's Grace

Pause:

Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus. 

Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.

Read:

2 Corinthians 12v9-10: “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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Going Deeper:

We all go through moments of difficulty in our lives, painful and hard times that reveal our fragility and leave us feeling shaken and weak. 

But let’s be honest, these are not really feelings that we enjoy. 

We much prefer feeling strong, capable and in control of our lives. 

Reading Paul’s words: “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties”, is somewhat jarring, and for me personally quite hard to relate to. Delight seems to be an extremely out of place word to describe any of those realities.

How was Paul able to delight in such things? 

We see in the text that it’s because his assurance in life was found in the sufficient grace of his God.

Paul knew that in all circumstances, in every situation, that God’s grace was enough. It was more than adequate to see him through. It was God’s grace that strengthened him, it was God’s grace that empowered and enabled him to endure and persevere through every trial and difficulty.

Paul knew that he was not only saved by God’s grace, but that it also empowered him for all of life. He knew that he lived by the grace of God.

In our moments of deficiency, do we find ourselves putting our trust in God’s grace?

Do we believe that it is by grace alone that we are saved? That God’s grace truly is a free gift and that we cannot earn it? That it is the undeserved and unmerited favour of God towards us, made available to us through faith in Jesus? 

Or do we doubt that it is sufficient, finding ourselves working hard to try and secure our salvation through our own actions and deeds, through faith and works?

Do we believe that God’s grace is sufficient for our daily lives? That his grace is adequate even when we are faced with difficult situations and circumstances, and the weaknesses they expose in us? Do we believe that God’s grace can strengthen and empower us?

Or do we buy into the lie of trusting in things other than God, things such as money, power or popularity, believing them to be more sufficient?

As we look to the Scriptures, we can be assured that his grace is truly sufficient and more than enough:

Ephesians 2v8-9: ““For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

1 Peter 5v10: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Hebrews 4v16: “Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

2 Corinthians 12v9: ““My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

As we reflect on God’s word, we can be certain that no matter how tough life gets or how challenging our circumstances become, we can come to him finding help in our time of need. 

We can be reassured that his grace is available to us, strengthening us when we are weak, empowering us to endure and persevere through life’s hardships and difficulties.

We can be confident that when we put our faith and trust in Jesus we receive God’s grace, and an eternal hope that can never be taken away from us. 

Pray:

Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage this morning.

Listen:

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you right now?

Apply:

What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?