God’s Unexpected Answer

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

“And He said to me.” God had a response for Paul. The answer was not what Paul initially hoped for or expected, but God still had a response for Paul. We often close our ears to God if He responds in a way we did not hope for or expect.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Instead of removing the thorn from Paul’s life, God gave and would keep giving His grace to Paul. The grace God gave Paul was sufficient to meet his every need.

Paul was desperate in his desire to find relief from this burden, but relief can come in two ways. It can come by removing the load or by strengthening the shoulder that bears the load. Instead of taking away the thorn, God strengthened Paul under it, and God would show His strength through Paul’s apparent weakness.

To do this, Paul had to believe that God’s grace is sufficient. We really don’t believe God’s grace is sufficient until we believe we are insufficient. For many of us, especially in our modern culture, this is a huge obstacle. We idolize the “self-made man” and want to rely on ourselves. But we can’t receive God’s strength until we know our weakness. We can’t receive the sufficiency of God’s grace until we know our own insufficiency.

Charles Spurgeon wrote this powerful description: “Great tribulation brings out the great strength of God. If you never feel inward conflicts and sinking of soul, you do not know much of the upholding power of God; but if you go down, down, into the depths of soul-anguish till the deep threatens to shut her mouth upon you, and then the Lord rides upon a cherub and does fly, yea, rides upon the wings of the wind and delivers your soul, and catches you away to the third heaven of delight, then you perceive the majesty of divine grace. Oh, there must be the weakness of man, felt, recognized, and mourned over, or else the strength of the Son of God will never be perfected in us.”

Prompt: Let this truth sink deep into your soul: “God’s grace is sufficient for me!” Whether God removes your thorn or strengthens you under it, He will show Himself strong on your behalf. Trust His all-sufficient grace today.

Based on The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.