Thursday, August 1, 2024
All the Grace We Need
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)
When we look in the Bible at the stories of people who suffered, we see that God was always with them in a special way.
For instance, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his men to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into a fiery furnace because of their bold profession of faith. But afterward, Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth figure walking with them in the fire.
The king exclaimed, “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!” (Daniel 3:25 NLT).
When Stephen was about to become the first martyr of the church because of his bold proclamation of the gospel, he had a vision of Heaven. The Bible says, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand” (Acts 7:55 NLT).
The apostle Paul spoke of a particular suffering and difficulty that he faced, calling it “a thorn in [his] flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT). Yet when Paul asked God to remove the source of his suffering, God said to him, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (verse 9 NLT).
Throughout Scripture we see that God responded to His people with special comfort in times of need. And He will do the same for us.
It’s so often during difficult times that we come into a greater appreciation of God’s goodness, because it’s then that we really see His grace and power shine.
God does not forsake His people. However, at the cross, God turned from Jesus as He bore our sin so we could come into a relationship with Him. Speaking prophetically of this moment, David said in Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?” (NLT).
The abandonment of God the Father was much more a source of anguish to Jesus than it would be to anyone else, because He is holy. Never for one moment of His earthly life did Jesus have a thought out of harmony with the Father. Never did He come close to sinning. He consistently maintained an intimate closeness with God.
In contrast, our sin can cause us to become hardened toward God and far from Him. And many times, we don’t even know the hardness and distance are happening in our lives.
Though Jesus incredibly (and certainly innocently) suffered the horrors of the crucifixion, the most important moment was when He who was flawless took every sin of humanity upon Himself.
Interestingly, although Psalm 22 begins with Jesus’ pain-filled question, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (verse 1 NLT), it ends with this hope-filled declaration: “His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done” (verse 31 NLT).
God the Father abandoned Jesus for a time so that we might enjoy His presence forever. Jesus was forsaken so that we might be forgiven. He was there on the cross, doing what had to be done. And only He could do it.
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