This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
God doesn’t always give an answer for why he allows his children to experience suffering or why he permits certain problems to plague us.
Three times Paul pleaded in prayer with God to take away what he called his thorn in his flesh. We’re not told what the affliction was, and perhaps it’s better that we don’t know, because it allows us to relate more closely to Paul in our own suffering and struggles.
The verse quoted above was God’s response to Paul, his servant and dearly loved child. There’s something in that response for us as well, dear Christian.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
God’s ultimate desire for us as his children is that we get home to heaven to be with him. That’s why he sent Jesus to rescue us from our sins by living a perfect life in our place, dying the death we deserve for our sins, and rising from the dead to assure us that through faith in him, we too shall live.
Though they’ve been defeated by our Savior, sin, death, and the devil still remain in this world. And we are still affected by them—and will be until the day Jesus calls us home to heaven or returns to make all things new as he has promised in his Word.
That means until then, we suffer. We struggle. We experience hardships, troubles, and problems in this world. And we might plead with God, as Paul did, to take those struggles away from our loved ones and us—those awful thorns in our flesh that just won’t go away.
Sometimes, God answers those prayers in the way that we’re hoping he will: He takes those struggles away. Other times, he allows those problems to remain.
Why?
Because above all else, God wants us home in heaven with him. He knows our pain, our struggles, our weaknesses. He knows what we truly need—even better than what we think we need. He knows what other people need too. We can witness to others for him, pointing them to the loving God whose power is made perfect in our weakness, whose grace is enough for us.
In his Word, God says, “Keep looking at me. Rely on my strength. Rely on me. I know it’s hard. I know it’s difficult. But look at what I’ve done for you—I sent you Jesus. My grace, forgiveness, and love are yours in him. Keep looking at him. He is what you truly need. Keep pointing other people to him because they need him too.”
God doesn’t always give an answer for why he allows his children to experience suffering or why he permits certain problems to plague us. But he’s given us an answer to share with others when they ask how we can smile, how we can laugh, how we can keep going despite the pain and hardships we face. It’s all because of Jesus.
Today as you pray, dear Christian, ask that God would give his strength to his people—to those who suffer and struggle. Ask that God would give his strength to them that they may rely on him and his all-sufficient grace to endure today. Ask that God would give them opportunities to take comfort in his promises and share that comfort with others.
Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe for free devotional content every week!
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
Leave a Reply