Immunity-no, Grace-yes...

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From Elisabeth Elliot

Someone asked last week, "When Jim died was your walk with the Lord close enough that His love and comfort and presence were sufficient at all times--or did grief and sorrow at times overtake and overwhelm you?"

My answer is yes to both questions. It is not an either-or matter. The psalmist, overwhelmed, prayed, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I" (Ps 61:2 AV).

Paul, plagued by a thorn, besought the Lord three times to remove it.

Jesus, "horror-stricken and desperately depressed," prayed "O My Father--if it be possible..." (Mk 14:34,36).

Of none of these--the psalmist, the apostle, the Lord--could it be said that his walk with God was not close enough. There was human suffering and divine sufficiency. This is the story of our life. The promise is "My grace is sufficient" (2 Cor 12:9 AV), not "My grace will abolish your thorns."

Came across this today and found it interesting. We all know there will be times of suffering. Somewhere in the back of our minds we think it's wrong to cry out to the Lord in desperation. We think we need to just "suck it up" and be strong and get over it. That God will see us as weak and not strong if we don't. But, God wants us weak and crying out to Him. He wants to offer divine sufficiency to our human suffering. Let Him...

Comments

  1. BOHAugust 30, 2010 at 8:51 AM

    A great verse to dwell & meditate on. 2Cor 19:9 A verse to place in one's heart to build one's trust and faith in Him. God has it all figured out :o) We just need to get ourselves out of His way so He can work. God is good!

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  2. UnknownAugust 30, 2010 at 11:05 AM

    I think you meant 2 Cor 11:9 ;) I like how it says Christ's power can rest on us. I like verse 10 also..."That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." I was insulted a bit on Saturday when someone said to me that I thought I was better than everyone else. It hurt. I do not think that at all. They felt that because I do things different that I thought that made me better. I felt bad that they thought that, but told them that just because I do things different doesn't mean it's better...just different. This person insulted someone else and I realized that this was just his "personality" and that I didn't need to take it personal. God is so good and I want to glorify Him in all I do...different or not.

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