My Grace Is Sufficient for You

Paul had received great revelations, and lest he should be exalted above measure, He was also given a thorn in the flesh. He pleaded with the Lord to take it away but he received the reply, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s answer to this was, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Cor. 12:1-10.

Many derive a false comfort from these words. They are aware of their sin and defeat, and in their weakness they say, “Even Paul had nothing to boast of except his infirmities, so it is good that God’s grace is sufficient for us.” According to this logic God’s grace is sufficient, thus one does not need to live a God-fearing life. This would be to glory in one’s sin. But that is not what Paul did. You must not think that the thorn in his flesh was some sin to which Paul was bound. On the contrary, its purpose was to keep Paul from sinning—to keep him from exalting himself. It was something that kept Paul in his place and helped him to realize that apart from God’s grace, he was nothing. But he was not supposed to lack anything either; grace was to be sufficient for him. Grace was not meant to replace a God-fearing life, but to help him attain it, and in this grace he was supposed to lack anything. It was to be sufficient to meet all his needs.

You who are defeated by sin and liken it to the infirmity Paul writes about, have you ever thought that God’s power was made perfect in him so that when he was weak, then he was strong? You can never say that when you are defeated (for example, when you lose your temper) God’s power is perfected in you. That would be ridiculous! Neither can you say that you are weak when when you lose your temper. On the contrary, it is just then that you are strong! Woe unto anyone who gets in your way! It is not the power of God you are manifesting, but the power of the flesh.

Being weak is the opposite of being proud. To be humble is to have lowly thoughts about oneself. Then we will receive grace—that is, the power of God within us to conquer sin. Therefore it is necessary for God occasionally to permit things to happen to us that remind us of our wretchedness, which makes us dependent on Him. When God blesses us and lets our work succeed (for example, by giving us revelations), it is easy for us to become arrogant and believe that we are something special. But then God gives us a thorn in the flesh, such as a difficult situation, sickness or some such thing, which reminds us that we are dust and nothing at all without His grace. These things are a counterbalance to His blessings so that in spite of tremendous revelations, we are kept in our place, in an abiding acknowledgment of our utter weakness.

“Well,” you say, “sooner or later everyone must face the fact that he falls short.” Yes, but Paul had received the promise that grace—God’s power—would be sufficient for him so that he would not need to fall short. In other words, God’s grace was to be a storehouse from which he could draw. When he felt his infirmity—that his own strength and capabilities were insufficient—he did not need to lose courage, because the supply of grace from which he could draw was always sufficient so that he could complete his work, which was to do God’s will in everything.