Sunday, July 8, 2012

God's Grace is Sufficient by Ann Elaine Broughton




“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9 NIV).

   Do you have a thorn in your life that keeps bothering you? It could be an illness, fibromyalgia, arthritis, any condition that hurts and won’t go away. Jesus spoke the above words to Paul because he had a “thorn” and what he called “a messenger of Satan to torment him” (2 Cor. 12:7) He had prayed three times that God would take it away, but the Lord responded with the fact that His grace was sufficient for him. You see sometimes God says no, and we are to rest in the fact that just having His grace is enough. We need to be thankful that Jesus came and gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins. Heaven is enough. What ever else we have is a bonus. Sometimes the thorn we have actually makes us closer to God. It can make us more sympathetic to those who suffer from a “thorn”.  It helps us not become conceited and proud. It can make us totally humble.
    I have had fibromyalgia for over 37 years. Sometimes it is just a dull ache and sometimes it can be excruciating. Believe me when I say that I too prayed that God would take it away from me, but it has not happened. Instead, I have learned through each time of terrible debilitating pain to trust God to give me the strength to make it through it. He never failed me. Eventually, it would ease up and go back to that dull ache, which I have learned to live with. Because of my thorn, I have grown closer to my God. I am more sympathetic to those who hurt. Nobody can understand unless they have been through it. God is my strength when I am weak, just as He promised Paul.
    Maybe you are sitting there and nodding that the thorn is there and that you are having problems dealing with it. Please pray to God that He will help you accept it and that He will give you the strength that only He can give to overcome despair. Please reach out to others who have the same problem and tell them that you care and understand.
Also, tell them that you are praying for them. Sometimes if you take the focus off of yourself, you will feel so much better. It always is good to reach out to others.
Dear Lord,
Please let your grace be sufficient for me. Help me to go through life knowing that life wasn’t meant to be easy, and that I am to rely on your strength to support me when my strength is gone. I know that life is full of “thorns”. Help me to trust you in any situation that comes my way.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Perseverance: A devotion by Ann Broughton

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