“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

It is known that God’s grace enables us to do what we ordinarily would not be able to do in our own ability. The situations and circumstances in our lives, when we take a closer look at them (sometimes in hindsight) we can clearly see that it was not us, but God at work in us and through us.

I remember an instance in my life where I was struggling to deal peaceably with an individual who kept taking shots at me every chance they got, with barely contained glee I might add. My response to the situation had been to avoid this person as much as possible, and remove myself from any situation that might put me in proximity to them. But the Lord said “Noop, not happening. Hiding is not the answer, nor is avoidance. You’re going to have to treat this person the same way you treat everyone else, and pray for them as well.”

“I’ve tried Lord,” I complained. “I’ve taken the high road, I’ve gone out of my way, nothing I do works.” The Lord patiently let me whine until I ran out of steam and then it dawned on me how many times I had used the word I. Hmm

Finally, after admitting to Him that I couldn’t do it in my own strength, even with the best of intentions, I let it go. I mean really let it go this time, not just with words like I had been doing in the past, but sincerely in my heart.

Isn’t it amazing when we get out of God’s way, and ours, how much He can get accomplished in and through us? It did not take long for the remarkable to happen, and I almost didn’t realize it when it did. It had been almost two weeks, and one morning while conversing with the individual, I realized that we were having a fairly normal conversation; one without angst, or me praying for the conversation to end so I could hurry on and be on my way. The Holy Spirit dropped into my heart right there and then, “That’s grace. That’s what God’s grace can do”.

Many times we have to reach to the end of ourselves before we decide to rely on the Lord’s grace and strength to get us through situations and help us fight our battles. Why is that? He never gets tired of us asking Him for help, He never runs out of what we need, or get irritated because He thinks we squandered what He’s already given us. It’s not like Oliver Twist asking for more supper and being rebuked or chastened.

The Lord wants us to ask as many times as we need. His Word says that His mercies and faithfulness are new for us every morning, so boldly go before His throne today and ask.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3: 22-23