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| Volume 23 Number 12 December 2021 |
Page 10 |
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| Volume 23 Number 12 December 2021 |
Page 10 |
My Grace Is Sufficient
David Myers
When we pray to God, sometimes asking for something very specific from Him, and He seems to say, “No, I won’t do that,” we can misinterpret His ultimate intention. Rather than accepting His answer in faith and realizing He knows what is best for us, we can have mixed feelings about God and miss the reason why God said “No” to our request.
This reminds me about a little boy who was afraid during a thunderstorm. His mother came into his room, knowing that he was afraid, and tucked him into bed to calm his fears. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, “Mommy, will you stay with me all night?” The mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, “I can’t, dear. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.” After a brief pause, the boy replied, “The big sissy!”
This is a humorous little story, but from the point it makes, it reminds us of what the apostle Paul faced as a servant in the kingdom of God. He went through many periods of persecution and hardship because of his faith in Jesus. When he asked the Lord to take away “a thorn in the flesh,” for which he pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from him, the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NKJV). The Lord’s ultimate intention was to help Paul realize that he was secure in the promise of His provision, without demanding something more. The grace that was already given to him was enough. As we grow step by step in our relationship with the Lord, hopefully we will learn that the best answer to some of our prayers is His gracious, “No.”
[Editor’s Note: All prayerful requests made by faithful Christians are answered, though we might not welcome God’s responses since they may differ from our desires. God may say, “Yes,” when God gives us whatever it is for which we prayed on our timetable – usually, immediately – if not sooner! “No,” of course, is when that for which we prayed does not occur. Yet, God may effectively also respond with “Later,” “Maybe” (conditionally) or partly as we want. Yes, God may have something else in mind for us, for which reason He may not grant our prayer requests. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). ~ Louis Rushmore]
If I Had…
Cliff Holmes
A penny for every time I said, “I can’t”
A nickel for each time I said, “It won’t work”
A dime for all the times I said, “It can’t be done”
A quarter for each time I said, “That’s impossible”
Over the 80+ years of my life, I would have amassed a fortune.
However, since no one is going to make me rich that way,
I would be miserable, penniless and frustrated because…
“It won’t work” begs the question, “Did you try?”
“It can’t be done” says, “How do you know?”
“Impossible” says, “Is it?”
Then, there is, “I can’t,”
But of course, “I can’t” never did do anything anyway!