“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
2 Corinthians 12:8,9
I thought I knew. It’a word I throw around like it’s common; a catchall of words to describe God’s goodness. I walk in this, rest in this, and I’m literally saved by this. Truth is, I was going to name my daughter this. Instead I had a hulky boy, now man, that would have had a hard time explaining his name as GRACE.
GRACE. Isn’t it just one of those Christianese words that seems to flow out of our mouths often and yet, I’m guessing we hardly give it a deeper thought. We throw it in with mercy and lump it into salvation and there we go with another pretty way to say we are forgiven.
As I began to search just a small bit deeper, the meanings and examples are amazing. Besides the verse above, there are many others that made me think and ponder. Here are a few:
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Genesis 6:8
“The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; …” Esther 2:17
“… The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11
“Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ” Zechariah 4:7
“And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” Luke 2:40
Just these five verses show the diversity and depth of grace. For Noah, it was how God saw him amidst the chaos and sin of the world. Esther was King Xerxes’s favorite and obtained grace. God gives grace along with all the other good things he gives to the upright. Notice, the upright receive grace. We typically think of the sinner getting grace. Zerubabbel shouted “Grace, Grace” as he set the cornerstone for the temple. He might be doing the work, but it was God’s grace that would see it accomplished. And finally, Jesus is described as a child with the grace of God upon Him. That is certainly not forgiveness or mercy.
We are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8,9). We are invited to approach the Throne of Grace to receive mercy (Hebrews 4:16). Romans 6:14 tells us that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. Grace is a small word with a HUGE gift. I was so pleasantly surprised to read the definitions.
Strong’s defines grace as kindness, favor, beauty, pleasant, precious, well-favored. In the Outline of Biblical Usage it is favor, grace, charm, elegance, and acceptance. How wonderful to be seen in the eyes of the Lord like this. We can’t earn those entitlements; they are given by God. God gives His grace to us and we walk with the elegance and acceptance of His favored children. How pleasant!
You may have heard the definition of grace as “unmerited favor” and that is true, but for me that doesn’t paint the complete picture. Maybe I get hung up on the unmerited part. It’s not only the idea of mercy for the woeful sinner I am, but the amazing truth that I’m favored – a favorite. That’s grace.
So, when Paul is plagued with some thorn in the flesh from satan and asks the Lord to take it away three times, the Lord responds that “His grace is sufficient for Him.” God doesn’t offer forgiveness nor healing, not mercy or wisdom. He promises grace sufficient. His grace. It is that gift of walking in this life with the precious and pleasant favor of God. Charles Spurgeon wrote about this verse, “He who knows, like the bee, how to suck honey from flowers, may well linger over each one of these words and drink in unutterable content.”
MY – GRACE- IS – Sufficient – for – YOu
Growing up I always loved the movies Cinderella and Snow White. No matter the wickedness that threatened and plotted against them, they walked in the pleasantness and charm of grace. The inner beauty of grace caused birds to sing and princes to swoon. They knew they were loved and that made all the difference. Even though they are fictional, the movies portray the confidence and humility that comes from knowing our KING loves us and His grace is our gift. Grace says, “I know that I appear to be not up to the challenges, but HIS power is made perfect in weakness.” (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). “His grace is sufficient for me.”
Reading Paul’s letters, I concentrate on the closings. I’m a letter writer and find that a letter in the mail is one of this life’s greatest joys. Paul would take care of business when he closed and usually ended with a blessing that reads like your favorite Psalm. The last verse of 2 Corinthians closes with:
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.”
2 Corinthians 13:14
His amazing grace! This “kiss of God’s favor” is all I need. I can’t think of anything I would rather have. When the world is so unkind, grace tells me I am His masterpiece. When my soul is troubled and I can’t find any good, grace shows me His goodness. Grace leaves me “handfuls on purpose” left by my Savior. And though half my life over and all down hill, I will age grace-fully. Grace is a gift of God. Like the old hymn taught us, His grace is quite amazing.
