God’s Grace is Sufficient for You! Did you ever wonder what in the world people were talking about when they say oh, The Lord gave me this scripture verse, or the Lord told me this or that. I remember when I first became a Christian, and started hearing some of the quote Christianese that people would use. It took a little getting used to and felt awkward to me as a newbie. Using the terminology made me feel how shall I say it, “cheesy!” I got over it, but it really took me a while to understand God giving people scripture or talking to them. In my way of thinking, I couldn’t grasp how this could occur in the real world. I mean how does that happen? Does God knock on the door and say, “Oh here is the message I have for you today!” Then half way sarcastic I would ask, if He did that, could you please tell me, I’ve been dying to know, what does He look like? I mean really? I thought some of these people were a half a bubble off of level. Little did I know I would soon get my answer. One day about 2 years into my walk with the Lord I was having a really bad time of it. I had recently been through an abdominal hysterectomy and was enduring one infection after another. I was sick, hurting and just couldn’t catch my breath. In the midst of that, my work called to tell me they needed to collect my insurance premium (no they didn’t cover that while I was off work) and state disability had denied my claim saying I didn’t have enough quarters in at my current position. I was laying in bed, in the fetal position, trying not to cry because crying made me hurt. I was in what you might call a state of despair – I was extremely blessed, however, to have a church family and friends who would not let me drown in my own self pity. I was part of the Harvest Choir at the time along with an Enjoying Marriage course, and these people and other very dear Christians not only called, visited and prayed for me but ministered to me. Well, this one day – as I lay there … my friend drops by and gives me this book by Max Lucado entitled The Grip of Grace. As I am browsing through it one page catches my eye. It spoke of Paul and how he went to the Lord 3 times and asked the Lord to remove the thorn from his side. But each time the Lord told Him … My Grace is sufficient for you. Wow, that really made me think, with what Paul went through – God said His Grace was sufficient for Paul. Then I turned on the radio to listen to a bible study – guess what it was about? Paul – and the subject … My Grace is Sufficient for You. Later I turned on the TV and Charles Stanley was on, preaching just as I tuned in. Not two minutes into his sermon he starts talking about troubles and How God told Paul, “My Grace is Sufficient for you!” Then my friend called me, she said she didn’t know why, but I had been on her heart all day. She said she just heard this amazing teaching that day and thought of me – you’ll never guess what it was about – yup – you got it right. “My Grace is sufficient for you!” By that time I had chills – Okay I get it God – your grace IS sufficient for me, even if I have only the hope of Heaven; I am blessed beyond compare – because what I really deserve is the fiery pit. Then it hit me – that sequence of events was exactly what people meant when they said they heard from God - that Was GOD giving me a personal message – through 4 different sources to be sure my thick skull would get it. The message was not only that was His grace is sufficient, but additionally expresses just how much He loves me (& You – The Lord is no respecter of persons). The fact that He would make all those things work in concert to get his idea across to me blessed my soul beyond my wildest dreams. Clearly, I needed to rest, quit worrying and let Him be in control. After all, there is only one Savior and I know for sure, it isn’t me. Now I try to stay tuned in and listen for that still small voice – so He doesn’t have to work so hard to get to me. I read my Bible to make sure things line up with His word and pray to seek His wisdom. And I will never forget His first Message to me. Oh How I love Him. And His grace IS sufficient for me now. Whatever life may bring – His arms are big enough to run to and His wings long enough to hide under. Thank you Lord, Thank you Jesus. Thank you my dear Friends. Loving You Today … Laura
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 02:27:02 +0000