- 167. Grace and Power
2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
God promises that His grace is sufficient for me. And that’s good because I am weak and His strength is made perfect in weakness. This is grace: God does for me what I cannot do for myself. I am weak and He is strong; and the weaker I recognize that I am the stronger He will be for me. Therefore, I can be glad and shout for joy in the midst of my weaknesses, for then the power of Christ is upon me. The promise of grace is one thing; the promise of power is quite another. “I am weak, but He is strong.” The power of Almighty God is with me and working for me.
The outcome of this promise is that I will trust God instead of myself for meeting the needs I have. It is easy to admit that God has more power than I do. But it is another thing to trust God first and above my own strength and wisdom. Sure God has power, but will He really exercise His power for me? Doesn’t God help those who help themselves? No!! God helps the helpless. Helplessness is the first prerequisite for prayer; the second is believing that God is the Helper.
One issue we must deal with is recognizing that the power of God to bring victory for us over the enemies that would destroy us does not look powerful. The power of Christ is actually in lowly things that look weak, like forgiveness, service, humility, giving, kindness, love and such things. This prevents us from seeing the power of Christ exercised on our behalf. Therefore, we need to believe this promise that His grace really is sufficient and His power really does rest upon us. Believing the promise also helps us to let Jesus take up our sins and grief, pains and problems, weaknesses and infirmities; then we trust Him to replace them with His power.
This brings up a question: Is the power of Christ more evident in the Crucifixion or in the Resurrection? Well, both, because each is a part of the same thing. When we see the Cross and the Empty Tomb we see Love. Therein is the power of God for me. The Crucifixion is Violent: Sin and Death violently kill Christ; the Resurrection is Violent: Jesus violently destroys Sin and Death. Now that is Grace that is sufficient, and it is Power that works for me.