July 5th

There are seasons in life that are overwhelming.  Gods people have experienced this since Cain murdered Able.  There was something in the Apostle Pauls life that he wanted so desperately to be free from.  It was so hard for him to live with it that he prayed repeatedly that God would remove it from his life.  It was more than the apostle could handle, but whatever it was, it had a purpose, and that purpose was to humble him for a season.  Paul tells us the purpose for his suffering: Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment meto keep me from exalting myself (2 Cor. 12:7)! In the middle of his suffering was a grace that would sustain Paul: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness (v. 9a).  God showed up in Pauls weakness in the same way that he showed up in Abrahams when, at 99 years old and Sarah at 89, God promised to finally allow Sarah to become pregnant with Abrahams child when they had no ability to make it happen in their own power (see Gen. 17). 

It is in the midst of experiencing more than they were able to handle, both Abraham and Paul discovered the God who is El-Shaddai the All-Sufficient One.   In the place of my insufficiency is where I can discover the God who is my Sufficient One.

I am excited to share with you something I never appreciated before this week while studying for and writing my sermon on Ephesians 4:25-32; I had a bit of an epiphany related to Ephesians 4:30 and I cannot wait to share it with you this Sunday in our 9:00 and 10:30 AM worship services!

Grace,

Pastor Keith