Grace Enough

“You want me to do WHAT???”  I’ve been there.  I’ve stared at myself in the mirror, but arguing with God, saying “Wait a minute.  I did that already.  Remember the firestorm I walked through just a little while ago?  I did that because You told me to.  Now You want me to do it … again?”  Then deciding to repent of my unspoken “Are You nuts???” that I knew God heard in my heart anyway, I said, “Okay.  Just don’t leave me.  It’s very scary out there. I really am. Very. Scared.” 

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’” (2 Corinthians 12:9). He didn’t actually say it to me.  He just had me remember that He’d said it in His word which means I can take it to the bank.

The truth is the spiritual battle is often very lonely and incredibly frightening. 

Our adversary is beyond despicable.  If he can’t get to us directly, he pulls a Job on us and goes after our possessions, our work, our families, our children, our spouse, our friends, and own bodies.  He assaults us with betrayal after betrayal, injury upon injury … often equally against those whom God has NOT called to the battlefield because our adversary knows the pain that he will inflict on us by hurting those who matter to us.  Those innocents who didn’t have the direct call from God, but whom our adversary designs they become side-casualties to create a double mind and stop the work of the one who was called.

Nobody warned me about that in seminary.

I’ve seen a quote attributed to Billy Graham, “The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.”  It’s on a million plaques at Christian trinket shops along with a convention of Precious Moments figurines.  It’s not a quote you’ll find in the Bible.  But it’s semantically similar enough to the 2 Corinthians 12:9 verse above that I reflect on the quality of truth in it. 

I think I’m still bothered by the word “cannot.”  It’s not as much of a forceful, reliable promise as the earlier “will not.”  Maybe like it implies there’s something up to me instead of the 100% God-will-do-it grace of an omnipresent God.  Like His will could be thwarted if I mess it up and the grace of God could have sustained me but for… me.  I think that’s why it’s not in the Bible. True, our job is to see none outside miss out on the grace of God…by dissention and petty disagreement, but for those following Christ, the good news is that God gives Grace Enough.

Good news that I can’t mess it up because I need grace enough for the battle.  That His power will be perfect for protecting my loved ones.  For giving them the courage and deep abiding faith to support my call even if I don’t fully understand it myself.  To bravely soldier beside me and behind me in prayer. I never asked for any sort of leadership.  It came and with it, a legion of arrows, each leaving deep wounds, kind of like Paul’s thorn in the flesh.  I soldier on…praying,

Lord Jesus, we thank You that Your grace is enough for the battle– enough to sustain us, enough when we’re frightened, enough when we’re confused, and it’s enough when we feel the pain of war.  When we know insults of being taken out, sidelined, or passed over (or our families are) Your grace is enough… enough for today, enough for tomorrow, just as it was enough yesterday. We praise You and thank You that Your mercies are new every morning because every morning we need new ones as each day has enough troubles of its own.  We need Your mercy and grace enough to cover, challenge, and conquer all our troubles.  Thank You Lord for the depth of Your love. Thank You for the call on our lives and that nothing bad happens to us that hasn’t first passed through Your hands as being for our good and Your glory.  We don’t understand but ask for faith to believe this.  We ask, Lord, that You would be glorified in the battle as we stand firm in faith with that whole armor of God around us and upon us. We thank You, Lord, for faith in Your Son Jesus Christ who endured all things, even the Cross. We thank You that He is the author and perfecter of our faith and that He’s gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us.  Lord, as You look over the earth, grieving no doubt at what You see, Lord, let us be found faithful… walking in obedience to Your word, rushing into Your will with faces like flint, soft hearts full of love for You and our fellow man, and a wholehearted perseverance to the very end.  We ask Lord that You would be glorified in all of this. We thank You for Lord Jesus, for His sacrifice, for His saying “Not my will but Yours be done” all the way to “It is finished.”  May we have the courage of conviction to follow Him wherever He calls, and we pray this in His mighty Name to Your eternal glory. Amen.