God's Grace is Enough

As Karen DeLoach struggled to get out of the bath tub, searing pain jolted her. The rusty hydraulics of her arthritic knees clicked, bone against bone. 

With a sigh, she breathed, "Lord, will You please heal my body?" Immediately the scripture came to mind, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9, KJV). 

She would rather have heard, "Thy faith has made thee whole" (Matthew 9:22), as did the woman with the issue of blood. Still, "My grace is sufficient for thee," whispered to her heart, brought tears to her eyes and comfort to her soul. 

Karen had depended on God's grace to accomplish ministry, whether it was singing a song, teaching a Bible study, or directing a play. She learned early in her walk with God that she could do nothing without His equipping and grace.

But she'd never thought in terms of needing His strength to clean her house, cook supper, buy groceries, run errands, stand in line or take a bath. Those were things she'd just done without a second thought.

That morning it seemed the Lord was saying, "It is not just for the big projects, Karen. I will give you strength to get out of this bathtub. I will give you grace to vacuum your living room or stand in line at the store or whatever you need to do, in spite of your pain."

A light went on! Now she realized that in her weakened physical state, in the midst of her pain, she could ask Him for grace to accomplish simple daily tasks, and she could depend on Him for that! 

Karen says, "I still can't do everything I used to do--or everything I want to do. But I'm learning that when there is an essential task at hand, I can rely on God to enable me or to send help my way." 

Thank You, for giving us grace to accept Your strength.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).