From Pastor's Heart :

God's Grace Is Sufficient

October 30,2018

The trials of life come to all of us, and none of us is exempt from them. In fact, Jesus assured us that trials will come. Jesus tells us in John 16:33 "In the world you will have tribulation;" but He did not stop there, He went on and comforted us, "but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." This means that whatever trials we are facing, we have God's overcoming power to go through them.

Apostle Paul is a man who lived in trials because of his calling. It seemed that all hell were waged against him at his every turn. We can see some of the trials that Paul went through in II Cor 11:23-33. The constant buffets were so intense that Paul sought the Lord three time for them to be removed. Jesus replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Since Satan is the god of this world and have influence over this natural realm, we are subject to the attacks. But in the midst of the attacks, or in our weaknesses, God promises to gives us grace to overcome and go through them.

The fact that Paul had to pray three times before he realized that he has the grace of God to go through the trials means that the grace of God is not a surge of power or a tangible something that we can see or feel. Many times it is only when we look back that we realize God's grace was carrying us through the trial. Most of us are familiar with a beautiful poem "Footprints in the Sand." A man in a dream saw two sets of footprints in the sand in his walk, one belonging to him and one belonging to the Lord. This man noticed that there is only one set of footprints in his lowest and saddest times and questioned the Lord, "I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me." The Lord replied, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you. During your trials and testing, when you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

One of the Scriptures that carried me through MANY hard times is found in II Cor. 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." Temptation, trials, and testing are common to all of us, and again, none of us are exempt. Two things that really helped me are: 1) God promised that no matter what trial comes in my way, it will not be more than I can bear. In other words, I CAN HANDLE IT (Phil 4:13)! 2) In the midst of the trial, God will make a way for me to go through. His grace is sufficient for me to overcome whatever is in my way.

Our fight of faith is a fair fight. There is a limit imposed on our enemy, he CANNOT exert pressure more than what we can handle. Whenever I am confronted with a situation that seemingly impossible to overcome, it helps me to say out loud, "This too will pass! I will overcome! I will make it through!" The key is to move forward by faith and trusting God in every step for His guidance and direction, and at the same time, realizing that He is carrying us. Our trust in God is our strength that carries us forward. God is absolutely faithful! Our faith will see us through because His grace is sufficient for us. The only way we can lose is if we give up.