“And He has said to me, and His declaration still stands, My grace is enough for you, for power is moment by moment coming to its full energy and complete operation in the sphere of weakness. Therefore, most gladly will I the rather boast in my weaknesses in order that the power of the Christ [like the Shekinah Glory in the Holy of Holies of the Tent of Meeting] may take up its residence in me [working within me and giving me help]. Wherefore I am well content in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, and in circumstances under which I am subject to extreme pressure on behalf of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am filled with ability and power” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Wuest).

What God said to Paul he says to me as well, “My grace is sufficient for you” – or, a Wuest renders it, “enough.”  Meaning, it is all I need no matter my needs, my circumstances, my challenges in life.  

Paul was given, by God, a “thorn in the flesh,” a “messenger of Satan.”  This, to say the least, is very much surprising. God would do that? Apparently.  But we must hear the reason:  “to keep me from exalting myself.”  Meaning, God, in giving Paul such grandiose revelations, also so loved him that He, in knowing what such spiritual experiences can do to a man, brought him down to earth by means of some sort of affliction; probably a bodily one.  Paul in turn, praying it would go away, basically received a “No” answer.  Instead, he was to rely upon the grace of God.  

I believe I am led here this morning, to the grace of God, that is, as I too am dealing with an affliction–another one.  There seems to be no let up.  So I went a looking at the grace of God, what it is, and how I too might be relying upon it.  

I learned what I suspected already, that sickness and disease are not from God but from Satan (though God, as in this case, uses both for His own purposes, not always relieving us of our troubles, at least when we want).  Vincent writes, “Satan is conceived in the New Testament as the originator of bodily evil. Thus, in the gospel narrative, demoniac possession is often accompanied with some form of disease” (see Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38, and 1 Corinthians 5:5).  

David, for example, wrote, “Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I keep Your word.”  

The source of, and reason for, affliction is not the point, however.  Perhaps this should be said before going further:  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”  This, then, is the real point.  

Out from what then comes the deliverance?  God’s grace.  

Grace, as Vine would define it, is that “friendly disposition from which (a) kindly act proceeds, (it is) graciousness, loving-kindness, (and) goodwill generally; in this respect there is stress on its freeness and universality, its spontaneous character, as in the case of God’s redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient.”

From my limited knowledge of Scripture and the meaning of both Hebrew and Greek words, I cannot but think of how this word, grace (Greek, charis), and the Old Testament Hebrew word translated loving-kindness (chesed), are nearly one and the same.  The latter means, simply, kindness, which is, according to Webster, “that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others, which is exercised cheerfully in gratifying their wishes, supplying their wants or alleviating their distresses.”  

Sure sounds like grace to me.  

It is by grace we are saved.  It is not from ourselves, but of God.  

In this respect it is indeed God’s love demonstrated to us in a demonstrable way; He has chosen to be favorable to us in saving us, entirely apart from anything we may have or have not done.  

Yet there is another dimension not yet mentioned.  Strong’s defines grace in part as “the divine influence upon the heart, and its evidence in the life.”  So it is by God influencing our hearts and minds that we come to Christ.  It is an inside job.  

All of which we are to rely upon; God’s favorable disposition toward us, which, I might add, is a fact of New Testament Scripture.  Plus, His workings on this inside of us.  He is in us both “to will and to do.”   To want to do a thing, a godly thing, and then have the ability to do it.  

Put in perspective, in the context of a thorn in the flesh any of us might have, God’s grace being enough for us means that the fact of His favorable disposition toward us, His love for us, and His presence in us, no matter how we feel or what we may be going through, knowing these things about Him is sufficient for us, and ought enable us to move forward in confidence.  God is for us, so who or what can be against us?  If God has allowed a thing, even sent a thing, it is for our good.

Does this means we accept evil?  Acquiesce to sickness and disease?  No!  It means we are to rely upon God’s grace.  Do we fight these?  On all fronts.  Do we pray God remove them, manifest His healing power and virtue?  Yes. Otherwise, Christ was scourged for no good reason–and we know that is not true.  

Relying upon God’s grace means we do not rely on ourselves or others.  It is not what we do, but what He has done.  I think grace always relates to that realm of possibilities that lie way beyond ourselves.  Yet those possibilities, God’s, become ours through faith, and manifestly become ours by reason of His favor.  

It is vital that a man remain fixated on God’s heart and mind toward him.  If we believe anything about God, we must of necessity believe that He is good.  All the time, in every circumstance.  His view of us is a fact, a verifiable and unchanging truth.  We are loved, and the way this shows up is in His kindness toward us.  This is grace. 

It is enough; that is to say, it is sufficient, all we need.  

There was another lesson Paul was learning in his situation:  God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.  This too is grace.  

It is a wise man who understands his frailty; and no matter how spiritual he is, he does not boast in this, but in his weakness.  Understanding and acknowledging your weakness is key to experiencing God’s power.  Seems the weaker we are, the greater God’s power at work in and through us.  Thus Paul writes, “I am well content with weaknesses; I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”  

Who among us goes about boasting of our weaknesses?  Not many I know of; but the great apostle did.  

Receiving and experiencing God’s grace begins with our sense of need for it.  Pity the man who has no need.  I think this may well be the reason so many experience hardships in life.  It is the goodness of God leading them to repentance.  No man will go to God for salvation if he feels he has no need for salvation.   Nor will he appeal to God for His grace if he has no use for it.  So it is we can thank God we have needs, we can go to Him with these needs.  There is such a thing as the “throne of grace.”  Oh, let me forever dwell there–each and every moment of every day!  

It is in confessing our sin that we are forgiven.  It is in acknowledging our weakness that God’s power is able to get to work in us.  It is when we understand our need, that we are positioned to receive His wonderful grace.  

It is enough for us.  Sufficient.  All we need for each and every moment.  

P. S.  I just have to add this advice from Matthew Henry’s commentary:

“Prayer is a salve for every sore, a remedy for every malady; and when we are afflicted with thorns in the flesh, we should give ourselves to prayer. If an answer be not given to the first prayer, nor to the second, we are to continue praying. Troubles are sent to teach us to pray; and are continued, to teach us to continue instant in prayer. Though God accepts the prayer of faith, yet he does not always give what is asked for: as he sometimes grants in wrath, so he sometimes denies in love. When God does not take away our troubles and temptations, yet, if he gives grace enough for us, we have no reason to complain. Grace signifies the goodwill of God towards us, and that is enough to enlighten and enliven us, sufficient to strengthen and comfort in all afflictions and distresses. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Thus his grace is manifested and magnified. When we are weak in ourselves, then we are strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we feel that we are weak in ourselves, then we go to Christ, receive strength from him, and enjoy most the supplies of Divine strength and grace.”

“Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; and let them say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant’” (Psalms 35:27 NASB).

The word is shalom— the Lord delights in the the shalom of His servant.  Most of us understand this particular word as meaning “peace,” and that it does; however, it is much, much broader than that.  It is translated  by multiple different words (though peace or a variant is used over 150 times) and has the overall sense of completeness, soundness, welfare, and peace.  It might well be rendered, “Welfare” (ESV) or, “Well-being” (NIV).  A more comprehensive look at it would be as follows:

Completeness (in number)

Safety, soundness (in body)

Welfare, health, prosperity

Peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment

Peace, friendship

of human relationships

with God, especially in covenant relationship

Peace (from war)

Peace (as an adjective)

—not a bad list, and things I think most folks would want present in their lives, things people pursue all the time although in all the wrong places.

The thing to pick up here is that God delights, not in these things in and of themselves, but when they characterize the life of one of His children.  In other words, it pleases God that His son or daughter possess these qualities.  That is, when you or I are safe and sound, when we’re healthy and prosperous, when we are at peace with God and men, when there is an absence of conflict, this delights God.

I could summarize it this way:  when I am happy, God is happy.

The apostle John conveys this selfsame message when he writes,  “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2).

It is noteworthy the words “His servant.”  The thing is, I don’t believe God is so pleased when the ungodly prosper, because if you read and understand the Scripture, you will find that, for the most part, the achieve prosperity in all the wrong ways, or with the wrong motives — or, they use what they have for the wrong things.  Non-Christians prosper, for sure, and there are reasons for this; but if I read this right (and I believe I do), then His delight is aroused when it is His servant that experiences the well-being.  I note too:  it is His servant — that is, a man or a woman who serves Him.  This by definition would disqualify the person who professes to believe in God and His Son, Jesus, but who does nothing to demonstrate that faith.  I do think it is God’s heart for that person to prosper, but servanthood—as least as it is seen here in Psalm 35—is the prerequisite.

What else I pick up here is God’s heart.  He is certainly not stingy, and I don’t believe for a moment that He takes pleasure in  a child of His suffering conflict , sickness, and poverty.  I don’t see that anywhere.  I mean, though Jesus “was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich.”  And He doesn’t withhold things from us.  Just one Psalm back we read, “O fear the Lord, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want.  The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;  but they who seek the Lord shall not e in want of any good thing” (34:9-10).  And in the all-too-familiar Psalm, Psalm 23:  “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. . .”  God’s heart is shalom, and it so pleases Him when His children possess it.

The Greek equivalent to shalom is eirene, and it means essentially the same thing.  Thus, when Jesus greets the brothers holed up behind locked doors and says, “Peace by with you,” He is not only imparting an overall sense of assuring calm, but those qualities that can be best described as well-being.

God is concerned for our welfare, and He is quite happy when we have it.  This is good news, that we’ve a God like this.  It is okay to feel good.  It is okay to enjoy the good things of God; He delights in that.  But let’s make sure we believe this about Him, and let’s be sure to posture ourselves rightly by taking on the attitude of a servant.

“Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business” (John 2:16).

How I marvel at these words! How they stir up my insides!  Whereas we know from other passages that God does not dwell in a house made by human hands (Acts 7:48); and, from Jesus’ words just a few more lines down, He spoke of the temple of His body.  Further still, we find out later in the New Testament that each believer’s body becomes a home for the Holy Spirit–still, Jesus here refers to the the physical Temple, the building, as God’s house.  

This isn’t the first time.  As a young boy missing from his family’s caravan, when found in the Temple, He explained, “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49).  

All of which is to say, God has a house.  Yes, heaven cannot contain Him.  And for sure, He dwells in every Christian.  But He does have a house, too.  And this, in our day, is not less than the church.  

I know, I know, I know…..the church is not a building, but people.  I know that.  But God’s people meet somewhere, typically in a building of sorts; albeit a home, a cathedral, or a tent.  The place where believers meet, that is the church, and that—this is what stirs my soul–is the Father’s house.  

People these days belittle the church.  Even Christians, they do not feel the need, nor do they have the desire, to gather together with other Christians in a place we call church.  Typically, the reasons fall along these lines:  the people are all hypocrites.  All they want from you is your money.  Or, I don’t have the time.  Much of the reason lies in the fact most Christians don’t read the Bible, so they don’t understand that we are told, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25).  Perhaps the greatest reason is that they don’t understand that the church is God’s house.  Worse yet, they don’t care.  

By definition a church is simply an assembly of persons.  In fact, is was used even of secular, non-religious meetings.  Yet for followers of Christ, whenever and wherever they gather together, there is a dynamic absent any other assembly on the face of the earth:  the Lord Jesus is there present among them.  

“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20).  

Christians who neglect church–assembling together with other Christians–miss out on the Great Attender, Jesus Christ.  Why bother?  The Lord is there!  Yes, God is everywhere.  You can encounter Him in a forrest or field, on your knees or in the shower.  Yet the Lord does not promise His presence in these places; He promises it when there are two or more of you together in one spot.  

By referring to the Temple as “My Father’s house,” Jesus sanctions the physical location of God’s presence.  We, the people of God, are His house (cf., Hebrews 3:6)–when we are gathered together.

As for me, as much as I love the church, today I receive an attitude adjustment.  I do not love her enough.  I have not esteemed the assembly of saints (i.e., true believers) highly enough.  I have not regarded it as the Father’s house.  Today I do.  

I note with interest the balance of our Lord’s words.  He says, “stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”  These days the church in many respects has become big business.  It has business managers, financial experts, marketing and sales departments.  It has huge budgets, needing much cash to support the physical property it owns.  Not that these are not necessary; as the assembly expands, so the needs to accommodate them.  Yet the church is not a business; if it becomes that, the Lord’s rebuke has been issued.  It is a spiritual entity, an organism as opposed to an organization.   And, given God’s thoughts and ways are not man’s, and His kingdom opposite that of the world’s, it is operated completely different.  Sometimes not even making sense.  

Imagine God, maker of heaven and earth, the one who loves you and who sent His Son to die for you–imagine Him living just down the street, even next door.  Imagine Him inviting you to come visit Him.  This, my friend, requires no imagination.  He is doing just this.  He is beckoning you, “Come see Me.  Come to My house.  You who believe in Me, join with others who believe.  Gather together with My people in My house.  This is church; this is where I am.”

When you don’t know what to do, pray.

When you don’t know how to do a thing, pray.

When in the doing of a thing, you become confused, pray.

When you lack wisdom, pray.

When you lack desire, pray.

When you are tired and lacking strength, pray.

When you are afraid, pray.

When you feel anxious about a thing, pray.

When your job is in jeopardy, pray.

When your marriage is in trouble, pray.

When you lack resources, pray.

When you are sick or otherwise in ill health, pray.

When you are stressed, pray.

When you feel hopeless, pray.

When you need vision, pray.

When you do not know which direction to go, pray.

When faced with a decision to make, any decision, pray.

When you are hurting inside, pray.

When you don’t feel quite right–physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, pray.

When tragedy strikes, pray.

When in danger, pray.

When embarking on a journey, pray.

When your friend has a need, pray–then do what you can to help him.

When your spouse, or your son or your daughter, or your grandchild, or you friend, strays, pray.

Before you eat, pray.

After you eat, pray.

Before you lay you head upon your pillow, pray.

If you wake up in the morning, it is good cause to pray.

If you can see, hear, smell, taste, touch–if you can do anything at all, pray.

If you have food, clothing, and shelter, pray.

If your body works at all, pray.

If you are beginning a thing, pray.

Or ending a thing, pray.

If going to war, definitely pray.

If you come home from war, pray.

If you live in peace, in any degree of it, pray.

If you are under tyranny, pray.

If you are enslaved by anyone or anything, pray.

If you are free, pray.

If you are at the end of your life, pray. 

If you are pregnant, pray.

When giving birth, pray!

When raising that child, those children, absolutely pray.

When you send them off to school, pray.

When you give your daughter to another man in marriage, pray.

While she is growing up, and well before she ever meets the man she will marry, pray.

If you wish to be forgiven, pray.

Or to be free from a person or thing, pray.

If you have lost your way, pray.

If your heart has become hard, and you know it, pray.

Pray that your heart never becomes hard.

If you want to know the truth about anything, pray.

If you have a job, pray.

If you don’t have a job and are in need of one, pray.

If you are doing well, are well-off, pray.

If you have any need whatsoever, or no need at all, pray.

If you think you’ve no need, then you absolutely must pray.  

If and when anything good comes your way–and it always does, pray.

When it storms, pray.

When it is beautiful outside, pray.

When you meet the man or woman of your dreams, pray.

When you are old and decrepit, it is time to pray.

If you can think straight, pray.  

If you have breath in you, pray.

Pray at all times and in every circumstance, and never, ever give up.  

Luke 18:1, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”