“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10)
Greetings! The time has come for us to continue on in our study! Today we shall finish up with question number one (Click here if you would like to see all the questions). Anyhow, question one is: “What does the Bible expression mean, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee'”? In our last study, we focused on the word grace, and today we shall zoom in on the word sufficient. Do you have your Bible, pens, and notebook ready?
Ok, let’s study!
Now, let’s turn to 2 Kings 4, and read verses 1-7. From the text, we find that there was a widow who had a debt. She cried, and expressed her problem to Elisha the prophet; and after following his inspired counsel, she had enough to pay off her debt and also enough to supply the needs of her family.
Imagine, “And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.” (vs. 6)
The widow’s vessels were full. They had enough; they were sufficient! In like manner, when Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for thee”, He is saying that it is enough; we won’t need anything else. “The full soul loatheth an honeycomb…” (Proverbs 27:7)
However, on the contrary, “to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet” (ibid). Friends, if we are not daily receiving fresh supplies of grace, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, what we once thought was bitter could eventually be considered sweet. May God help us!
“A long preparatory process, unknown to the world, goes on in the heart before the Christian commits open sin. The mind does not come down at once from purity and holiness to depravity, corruption, and crime. It takes time to degrade those formed in the image of God to the brutal or the satanic. By beholding we become changed. By the indulgence of impure thoughts man can so educate his mind that sin which he once loathed will become pleasant to him….The heart must be renewed by divine grace, or it will be in vain to seek for purity of life…David’s prayer should be the petition of every soul: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’ Psalm 51:10. And having become partakers of the heavenly gift, we are to go on unto perfection, being ‘kept by the power of God through faith.’ 1 Peter 1:5.” {PP 459}
Although the enemy may seek to offer us something bitter, Jesus offers us something better! Divine grace! Grace, sufficient for today! “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34). Our Heavenly Father is ready to give us a sufficient amount of grace to meet today’s trials, circumstances, and difficulties. Will you receive it?
“Let us therefore come boldy unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
Truth be told, “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied” (Proverbs 27:20). What is another way to say “never full”? Empty. Have you ever felt empty before? This empty sentiment is the embodiment of hell. However, Heaven has a different program; with results that leave one full, complete, whole, content, and satisfied! It is the grace of God that makes the difference. His grace is sufficient!
Another definition of sufficient is “to lift something up”. Feeling down? lonely? depressed? worried? All of the above, and some? God’s grace can lift us up into a higher, living, and daily experience with Him; that will prepare us for His soon coming and the final crisis! Just like “it takes time for the mind to come down from purity and holiness to depravity, corruption, and crime” – it takes time to know God personally. Praise the Lord that, by His grace, we can get acquainted with Him today (Job 22:21).
Be sure to join us in our next study! We shall start studying question 2. Also, please share with us in the comments below your answers for question one. Thank you! God bless!