August 03, 2023 | Be On Mission
God's Grace is Sufficient
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12(NIV)
1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12 I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles. 13 How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? 16 Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! 17 Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. 20 For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.
Devotional
Nearing the end of his lengthy letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul gets personal. While there is uncertainty about the exact meaning of several aspects of this chapter, one possibility is that it’s all about “vision.”
First, Paul wrote about visions and revelations from the Lord. Though he was talking in the third person, most scholars acknowledge that he was writing about himself – a common tactic in that day. This vision took him to the very presence of God (“third heaven” and “paradise”). There he saw and heard things that were inexpressible and unrepeatable. He experienced divine vision.
Second, Paul wrote about his thorn in the flesh that he suffered from. In a different letter, Paul said, “As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you…. I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me” (Galatians 4:13, 15). If Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a problem with his eyes, then the divine vision from fourteen years earlier would far outweigh the human vision problems that persisted throughout his life.
Finally, Paul addressed his deep concern that the Corinthian Christians were losing their vision for what it means to be a follower of Jesus. He was afraid that their eyes would be drawn back into the worldly ways of Corinthian culture (v. 20-21). His challenge to them drips with sarcasm, pitting himself as the exploitative spiritual hucksters he was warning them about.
Admittedly, it is impossible to tell if Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a vision problem. It could have been a different physical ailment. It could have been a besetting sin temptation. It could have been the ever present opposition and persecution he faced. All of us have things in our lives we wish that we could wish away. But life isn’t a straight course of smooth sailing. Regardless, we are called to set our compass to true north.
We can always rely on this truth from the Lord, who said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” How does this promise speak to you in the challenges of your life?
Poem
Don't Worry 'Bout The Morrow
It is enough
It’s adequate
Each daily manna dawning
Collect God’s grace
Sufficient for today
Don’t worry ‘bout the morrow
It is enough
It’s adequate
The living water spilling
From God’s own Rock
Split, spilt for you
Don’t worry ‘bout the morrow
It is enough
It’s adequate
The Holy Spirit’s comfort
Rest in His arms
Lean on His breast
Don’t worry ‘bout the morrow
It is enough
It’s adequate
Your days on earth full numbered
Each hair is counted
No fall unseen
Don’t worry ‘bout the morrow
