His Grace Is All We Need

“You know my pedigree…” Paul says in Philippians 3:4 (Message Bible) as he is describing his life’s resume. He goes on to say he’s had a legitimate birth, he was circumcised on the eighth day, he was an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin and that he was a fiery defender of God’s law. Paul seemed to be the model Christian. Almost as if he could do no wrong and didn’t have any deficiencies. He was born in the right family, he believed the right things and he lived his faith in the right way. If you were on the outside looking in, you could feel his lifestyle was unattainable, as if he were in a class of his own. Who could ever measure up to Paul with a background which seemed unparalleled? Well, the reality is Paul was a person who suffered things just like us. Everything wasn’t a bed of roses for the apostle. He speaks candidly about one of his most challenging times in II Corinthians 12:9-10 where he says he was given a “thorn” in his flesh. Nothing about this sounds rewarding. But it does seem this is one of the most vulnerable moments in Paul’s life.

Paul was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble. Scripture doesn’t tell us in detail what this “thorn” is exactly. But this was clearly a metaphor describing something that was penetrating, uncomfortable, painful and I’ll also add, unavoidable. It was something that Paul had to endure. He had no options. Here is the reason I said this was one of the most vulnerable moments in Paul’s life. Because at this point we are not hearing the apostle talk about his pedigree or his elite heritage from the tribe of Benjamin. He’s much more transparent about his condition. He is describing to us a season in his life where he is dealing with a “thorn” that is wearing him down. The pain he was enduring was unbearable. How do I know this? Because he says in verse 8,” Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.” Paul was pleading for relief. I can conclude reasonably that he was probably losing sleep, having difficulty concentrating, anxious and agonizing deeply over what he was enduring. He wanted the pain to stop. And just when you feel he deserves a pity party with good food and a host of guests, the Lord answers with a beautiful and calming response to Paul’s pleas. He simply says, “My grace is all you need, my power works best in weakness.”

I’m sure you can relate to Paul, I know I can. This is something that happens to all of us at some point in our lives. We deal with situations or go through seasons where it seems unbearable and all we want is relief. We want the pain to stop. In life we deal with sickness, financial loss, family dysfunction and, in our darkest times- the death of someone we love. Just like Paul’s “thorn”, often these circumstances are simply unavoidable. But is it possible that during these difficult seasons we are focused on the wrong thing? I believe most times our attention is on the “thorn”, when our attention should really be on His grace. The thorn is where the pain comes from, but His grace is where we find relief and strength to endure. Understand, like Paul, your situation may not change. And you may have to plead with God multiple times for relief. But please realize that even if you don’t get the relief you desire, we have a beautiful promise from our loving Father that His grace is all we need.