Life’s Challenges

by Zeke Flores

Paul's honesty in his telling of the "thorn in the flesh" that caused him such distress is relatable (II Corinthians 12:7-10). Whatever it was that caused Paul such pain, we’ve all been there. After all, who hasn’t struggled with some circumstance, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, that hasn’t driven us to our knees in a plea to God, "Please take this out of my life!"?

Paul’s answer from the Lord was not an eradication of the pain, but a better way to cope with it. The Lord’s promise of sufficient grace is just what Paul needed. It’s what we need to.

This short episode offers many lessons:

• We're inadequate on our own to face life's difficulties. Therefore, we need God’s help. And, coming to our aid, He offers all the resources we need to not only endure, but to triumph.
• The limitations and weaknesses of our frail humanity provide opportunities to experience the help God offers. Knowing that He not only can help, but that He wants to help should cause us to call on Him in our time of need.
• God's grace is sufficient to meet every challenge we face. Often, God’s resources are not what we’d expect, and His answers to prayer are hardly ever what we envision. Yet, trusting His way is best, His grace –all the resources He makes available for man’s forgiveness, sustained mutual fellowship, and confidence to carry on– is limitless.

Too often, when faced with adversity, we respond with anger, fear, or despair. But Paul’s situation reminds us that God is an endless source of strength, confidence, help, and love. When we’re overwhelmed by our problems and our own inability to respond to them properly, we’re in a perfect position to do it God’s way and, in the end, see that His way is always best.

Paul, trusting in the Lord, had the right perspective. Ultimately, his unfavorable situation was transformed into an opportunity for praise. It can for us, too.

"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for wehn I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:10).