As I sit in my office preparing for my second funeral of the
week, with one more tomorrow. I could not help but wonder how we make it
through this life. I am convinced that God’s grace so fills the earth that even
those who do not know his name receive comfort from his great love. God’s grace
does not seem to keep us from struggle, death, or pain, but it does give us
enough to bear the load.
I have always loved the words of the poem Footprints. However, I cannot help but
think they are at the least not always accurate. The image that forms in my
mind of God carrying us, is that his grace will rescue us so we do not have to
walk through the tough times; rather, he will carry us. When the Apostle Paul
prayed for the thorn in his flesh to be removed God told him that his grace was
sufficient. Hmm! Sufficient?
Is God’s grace sufficient for me? Would I not rather that his
grace would cure me, rescue me, take away all adversity? What I find interesting
is that God, rather than remove us from all the threats of suffering in this
world, stepped alongside us. He did not lift us out of our struggle, he stepped
into our struggle. He did not take physical death from us, he died physically
with us. Instead of God removing us from adversity he holds our hand and leads
us through it.
I am not speaking of sin. That he has removed, he has
destroyed. We cannot, of our own ability, defeat sin. I am speaking of life.
God’s grace is sufficient to get us through life. Jesus wept, just as we weep. Jesus
prayed for answers, just as we pray for answers. Jesus got tough answers, just
as we get tough answers. Paul prayed three times and then that was it. Trust
God’s grace Paul! Jesus prayed three times for the cup to be removed. Trust God’s
grace Jesus!
How do we make it through this life with so much calamity,
so much suffering, and so much pain? God’s grace is sufficient. Trust God’s
Grace! That is it, trust. I am not always very good at trusting. I sure hope to
get progressively better. Sometimes, I lament to God and complain that I am not
strong enough to make it through the difficulty. That is when I am reminded
that I cannot trust my own ability, I must trust his grace.
His grace is sufficient. Whatever you are facing today, whatever
difficulty that has presented itself. God may not pick you up and carry you
over it; instead, I think, he will step right down beside you and face it with
you. He will provide all you need to bear the load. In the end our victory will
depend on his grace not our ability to overcome.
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