Grace for You

In 2 Corinthians, Paul says that the Lord told him, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’ And therefore Paul concludes, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

And therefore take two things to heart: First, recognize that what Paul says is true, your weakness is no barrier to God’s grace. Your distress, your infirmity, your needs are not hindering the grace of God. Rather, Paul says nearly the opposite. He says that all these things are the very means that God uses to display his grace. His strength is made perfect in weakness. And faith means believing this, believing that the power of Christ rests upon us in our infirmities, in our distress. And if the power of Christ rests upon us, then we are strong. And this means that God’s grace is sufficient for you. God’s mercy, his kindness, his goodness is designed with you in mind. His grace is not some kind of impersonal force for good that just radiates outward in a generic way. The grace of God is his determination to love you, to heal you, to conform you more and more to the image of Christ, to display his glory in you, his power in you, his strength in you, and to finally raise you up from the dead at the last day. His grace is sufficient for you because it was designed for you; his grace is his eternal determination to fill you with his fullness. His grace is sufficient because he sent his only Son to the cross with you in mind. He sent his Son to the cross with your story, your weakness, your distress, your infirmity in mind, and then he raised Him from the dead still resolutely committed to you. That is the grace of God; it is his determination, his loyalty, his commitment to see the life of Christ in you. And that is cause for rejoicing; that is cause for boasting. Do not doubt; only believe.