2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

I had a very deep and very meaningful conversation the other day that led me to go to this verse.  This is the part of 2 Corinthians where Paul is taking about the thorn in his side and the difficulty he has had removing it.  The subject of the conversation mentioned previously centered on this very thing, asking:  Why do we all have holes in our lives that we think we must fill with frivolous and empty things?  What are the thorns that plague us and cause us pain, therefore driving us to temporary solutions for our pain.

I’m sorry if this subject seems depressing but it is a fundamental question to our human existence.  A possible answer came to me upon reading this verse.  “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”  How wonderful that God’s presence in our life can make us strong against our weaknesses.  The question remains:  Why haven’t we, humanity, conquered our weaknesses?  Why are we continually, perpetually and destructively flawed?

I believe that God can take away all weakness.  But it will be on God’s timing.  That seems like one of the top 5 “cop-out” answers in Christianity today.  But it has to be true.  For a loving God would not doom humanity to its iniquity without promise of wholeness at some point in time.  For Christians, this may be what we conceptualize heaven to be like…a completeness with God.

Why does this reality not exist in our world, in our time or in our reality today?  Why did Christ suffer and die?  These questions are aligned in the same category and in the same vein of mis-understanding.  Only God can answer this question.  But is it not wonderful, powerful and full of hope, the promise of grace being sufficient.  Maybe that is the answer in and of itself.  The moment we accept the gift and promise of grace is the moment we stop worrying about our awareness of incompleteness and we lean on the completeness of God instead.

Continue to remember that life is a journey.  Make mistakes and learn from them.  Recognize your weaknesses, ask God to give you strength and lean on the grace God provides when inevitably, your nature fails you.  Know that grace covers guilt and following Christ covers sin.  Nothing but this is sufficient for our lives.

Awesomeness Abounding!

Lee

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