2 Corinthians 12:9, “Each time he said, “my grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” NLT
Have you ever thought about the lies you believe versus the truths you believe in? Our beliefs are formed by our upbringing, family, culture, and age group, influencing what we think is right. But all truth is significantly found in Scripture and guides our thinking and actions rightly, as we read it, as Psalm 119:160 states, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” Then Romans 15:4 declares, “For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.”
2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” Some people think the Bible is a collection of Bible stories and use it like an online search tool when something comes up. But that is not how the Bible was written. It was written to reveal the characteristics of God and the message of the gospel. It was written for God’s children, and it is about God. As Tara-Leigh Cobble of the Bible Recap has said, “In her own journey, she first read the Bible believing it was “about you,” looking for personal answers and self-centered meaning. Then her pastor challenged her to shift her lens: stop reading for yourself, and instead look for what God loved and hated, and what motivated Him to act.” Asking questions like “What does this passage reveal about God’s character?” and “What is God trying to teach me about Himself?” can help deepen understanding when reading Scripture.
So, it boils down to: do I believe, do you believe, that God’s grace is sufficient – that it is all you, it is all I need, because His power works best in our weaknesses as Paul taught and lived in 2 Corinthians 12:9? I have so many limitations. Paul even had something along those lines himself. It is thought to have been a physical affliction. God didn’t promise to take it away but promised to demonstrate His power through Paul. Paul didn’t ask God just once but many times to take whatever it was away. Each time, God said to Paul, “My grace is all you need.” Can I say that? Can you say that? Whatever our limitations are, God intends for them to develop Christian character and deepen our worship of Him, because we then affirm God’s strength, which gives us hope.
Jerry Bridges, in his book, The Discipline of Grace, says: “Learning to live by grace instead of by performance helps us to accept the discipline of adversity. For one thing, we realize that God is not disciplining us because of our bad performance but, on the contrary, because of His love for us. . . So we learn not to ask, “Why did this happen to me? (meaning, what did I do to deserve such bad treatment from God?). . . until we see the harvest of righteousness and peace produced by it.”
Did you notice that Paul used the word “weaknesses?” That shows his humility in admitting he had many, not just one. He used the present tense of “sufficient” (LSB) and “all you need” (NLT), which reminds us that God’s grace is always available. When you wonder, “Why did this happen to me?” embrace humility and see yourself as a vessel for God’s grace shining through you. That is all you need.
Listen to New Name Written Down In Glory (Lyric Video) Charity Gayle.