Praying for the Realization of God's Sufficiency (i.e. Contentment)

As we gather this week to pray together, we look at Paul's famous words in 2 Corinthians 12:

"So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Truly, God moves in mysterious ways. Especially when it comes to our sanctification. If we were on His throne, certainly we would not intentionally use the pains and hardships and trials that are so common to life to conform us into Christ's image. 

But like Paul - and the rest of humanity - we struggle with self-sufficiency. "Sufficiency" is a major theme in 2 Corinthians, and is used positively in some places, and negatively in others. Here, the Lord Jesus is dealing with the latter, namely a sinful, godless, proud self-sufficiency.

Robert Murray M'Cheyne once said, "God always gives us what we ask, or something better." This is precisely what is happening for Paul. Rather than granting Paul's urgent and repeated request to remove this "thorn in the flesh," Jesus grants Paul a theological epiphany: His grace is sufficient for him in his discomfort.

This is something we need to pray for. 

Often, when God doesn't answer our prayers for immediate deliverance or pain relief, we can become disillusioned and numb on the one hand, or angry and bitter on the other.

But, by prayer, we can let these trials have their perfect work. According to both James 1 and our passage above, this much desired fruit is called contentment. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul says that for the Christian this Spirit-wrought contentment is "great gain."

Therefore, we must pray for a greater trust in God, even (especially!) when His ways don't make sense to us (cf. Isa. 55:8-9). In the words of Spurgeon, "when we cannot trace His loving hand in the storm, we must by faith trust His loving heart."

Often, the greater miracle God performs in answer to our prayer is not the granting of the prayer itself, but the granting of patience and endurance and faith to bear and persevere through these painful God-ordained "messengers." Paul's last sentence is a miracle of grace: "For when I am weak, then I am strong [in Christ]."

In addition to Scripture, having a working knowledge of the great hymns of the faith can be a great help for hurting and trial-weary Christians. Two I heartily recommend, and personally return to and revisit myself, are "God Moves in a Mysterious Way", and "I Asked the Lord." 

As we gather, let us pray for grace to help in our time of need, knowing that in Christ, God will grant it to all His children who ask.

In Christ, and for His glory in His church,
pastor ryan