His Grace

I have heard people say, "I don't think I could handle that."  They then proceed to name the set of circumstances which they feel they would never be able to handle, if that set of circumstances would occur in their lives.  When I was younger I remember thinking that there were two things I just "knew" I would not be able to handle, if they happened to me.  These two things were the death of my husband  and the loss of a breast.  God asked both of these things of me.  My  first husband, Wayne, died in early 2011 at the end of a long battle against his neurological disease, and I also lost a breast due to breast cancer in the same time frame that I was my first husband's caregiver.

After being my first husband's caregiver and then losing him to death I also said that I never wanted to be a caregiver again.  Yet God has asked me to be a caregiver once again now to my second husband,  Bob.  The circumstances are diffierent but the emotions are also so amazinly similiar.  I so often have felt in the last months that I couldn't go on.  Yet God has always been there with me with His grace and comfort.

The truth is that God does not give us grace ahead of time.  He gives us His extra grace to handle a difficult and "impossible" situations at the time we need it and not before that time.  That does not mean that the difficult situation will be pleasant, and that one is free from negative emotions.  It just means that God will give sufficient grace and even a measure of joy and peace in the midst of the situation.

In the book of  ll Corinthians in the New Testament of the Bible the apostle, Paul, asked the Lord three times for release from "a thorn in the flesh." We do not know for sure what this affliction was that Paul was experiencing, but apparently it was serious enough that Paul cried out to the Lord for relief.  The Lord did not choose to take this affliction from him, however.

Instead the Lord said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (II Corinthians 12:9)  The Lord was going to give Paul the grace he needed moment by moment to endure and even prosper in the midst of this affliction.  Paul's response in ll Corinthians 12:9b-10 was to say, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.----For when I am weak, then I am strong."  Paul was content to feel weak and to suffer his affliction, because in the process the Lord's sufficient strength in Paul would be seen more clearly.

How about you dear reader?  Are you willing to trust that God's grace is sufficient to get you through any challenge you may face today or in the future?  I remember feeling afraid of what the future held while caring for my first husband.  How was I going to handle each new decline in his physical functioning?  Yet God paved the way and gave me His strength step by step even during the moments when I felt very overwhelmed.  I often wonder the same thing in the challenges I now face.

Do you believe, dear reader, that God's grace will be given to you moment by moment?  Do you believe it will be delivered at the right time and that the grace will be sufficient for every scenario? Do you believe His grace will be enough for you to stay firm in your faith and to continue to believe in God's goodness and love?

God's grace IS sufficient for all your needs, dear reader.  He will equip you for whatever lies ahead.  You will not only survive, but you will prosper spiritually through the process.  This is a truth that I have to remind myself as well when I feel overwhelmed, confused, alone, or need His comfort.  I still often give into fear.  It is not easy to walk this life's path.  Yet I am reminded that God will give me the sufficient grace at the moment and moments I  need it.  God is doing it for me and will do the same for you, dear reader!