Devotional Gems by Jolene
Created for Bible Study for Kids
Sustaining Grace
Part Four of Four
2 Corinthians 11: 23-28, 12:6-11, Philippians 4:11
By J.D. Griffith
Four answers God gives to prayer requests: “Yes”, “No”, “Wait”, and “My
grace is sufficient”.
How do Christians respond to life’s circumstances?
Confidently--regardless of how our Father answers our prayers.
St. Paul talks about his attitude about life. After his transformation
from a persecutor of Christians to a Saint, he learned contentment.
(Philippians 4:11). He was whipped, put in prison, stoned, shipwrecked,
robbed, weary, hungry, thirsty, and often naked. (2 Corinthians
11:23-28).
Through it all, he didn’t complain. He felt privileged to have been
called to suffer for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But he had
one thing that irked him.
He had a thorn in the flesh. No one knows exactly what it was, but we
know it bothered him. Three times he asked Jesus to remove it. Jesus
answer to him was, “My grace is sufficient for you; My strength is made
perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
What kind of an answer is that? If you were to study the passage in the
Bible, the answer is there. Jesus hates boasting. The thorn in Paul’s
flesh made Paul humble. When he was in this state, Jesus could use him
to the Father’s glory. Indeed, Paul’s weakness was glorified before the
Father through Christ’s strength.
Two thousand years later we’re still reading Paul’s letters. These are
called Epistles. Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica were cities where he
founded churches. His friends, Timothy and Philemon received his
letters, as did the Romans and the Hebrews.
Paul found contentment in God’s sustaining grace. Always sufficient,
always present, grace expresses kindness and sustaining power. This
sustaining power changed Paul’s life from defeat to victory. This same
grace enabled him to persevere through trials when tempted to give up.
God wants us to learn to live by His grace. We’re to be salt and light
to the world. His grace covers all situations. We’re covered with a
canopy of grace that works everything out for our good.
Take Home Nugget
With this canopy of grace covering every circumstance in our
lives, we have no excuse to give up when we feel something is too hard.
Our life is in the hand of the Sovereign God of the universe. How can we
give up when He is on our side?
The things that come before me
Are too many to list.
But when grace covers everything I see,
Serving God is hard to resist.
J.D. Griffith
