2 Corinthians 12:9 (The Message)
The Message (MSG)


7-10

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so
I
wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a
handicap
to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's
angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did
was
push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around
high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and
begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then
he told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit
focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.
It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my
weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good
cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse,
accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take
over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

 One of the hardest lessons I've had to learn in my walk
with Christ is that "His Grace is sufficient for me". His
grace is all I need. After I learnt that then "I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me" started to
make perfect sense. Once I realized that in my
weakness, when things started to look out of control, my
control, His grace was all I needed. I've come to the
point where I thank Him in advance for the grace to live
out another day in a manner that is pleasing to Him. I
thank him for the grace to be a witness for Him. The
grace to do another days work despite the attacks from
others who would see me fail, and still experience the
presence of the Lord. Because of this grace I have found
a joy deep down in my soul that nobody can take from
me, no matter the situation. Sure, I fail from time to time,
and start to slip back into the thinking of the past. But
then I’m nudged by the Holy Spirit and brought back to
the reality of the truth of the Word of God, and am able to
still have joy no matter my situation. I thank God that
these times are getting farther and farther apart. Yes,
His Grace is all I need!

Chaplain Dave