By Kim W.If anyone is familiar with pain, it is Paul...He chose suffering over silence. He was bold in proclaiming the gospel of Christ because his life had been changed from the inside out. He knew God and wanted others to know the love of God deeply.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul was heartbroken. He felt betrayed. He loved the church at Corinth so much, but they were following false teachers and believing lies about Paul. He felt deep, profound pain over this. Isn't it true that those we are the closest to can cause the deepest pain, especially in the area of betrayal? Paul, also, was suffering from a thorn in his flesh and he begged God for relief three times in this passage.
So, here is Paul... experiencing deep hurts of suffering for doing what was right, feeling betrayed by a group of people that he dearly loved, and suffering with physical pain with no relief in sight. These are deeply painful life experiences.
When dealing with those we love who are profoundly hurting, who have experienced some of life's hardest trials, who have been hurt by serious and painful betrayals, we certainly need more than a shallow response. We certainly need to show love and patience with them while expressing words of comfort and help. The wonderful news is that God dealt with Paul's hurts with a deep, profound response...a life-changing response. He said, "My grace is sufficient." Wow - what a statement.
John 1:14 says that Jesus was ''full of grace." He was incarnate God--God in the flesh, so He had all the characteristics of God as a man. He was full of grace, but that is not all. John 1:16 tells us that "from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace."
We have all the grace needed:
1) to believe in the first place
2) to put away sin and put on the righteousness of Christ
3) to obey God's Word...to understand it and apply it to our lives
4) to effectively serve Him
5) to worship Him in spirit and in truth
6) to triumph over habitual sin of the past
7) to resist any temptation
8) to endure every kind of suffering, pain, disappointment, and sorrow
It is amazing grace, isn't it?
When Paul asked three times for relief from the thorn, God answered. But not by taking the pain away, because the pain was productive. He didn't remove the trouble, because the trouble was also helpful in Paul's life. He said,"My grace is sufficient." God is going to increase the grace for Paul, so that he can endure. He does that same for us. He gives us His wonderful, amazing grace, so that we may endure.
The word sufficient simply means "it is enough." God's grace is enough for anything that happens in this life.
When we suffer for doing what is right, God is putting His grace on display. A world is watching. As we endure, by God's grace, people will see the greatness of our God and the strength that He gives us. He receives all the glory and we are better off because of the suffering.
J.C. Ryle says this about suffering:
Affliction is one of God's medicines. By it He often teaches lessons which would be learned in no other way. By it He often draws souls away from sin and the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly. Health is a great blessing, but sanctified disease is a greater one. Prosperity and worldly comfort are what all naturally desire, but losses and crosses are far better for us, if they lead us to Christ. Thousands at the last day will testify with David, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." (Psalm 119:71)
Sources:
If God is Good by Randy Alcorn
"How God uses Suffering" (Part 1 and 2) by John MacArthur
Commentary on 1st Peter and 2nd Corinthians- John MacArthur
