Suffering and God's Grace

Can it be just about not getting a big head? God wants us to live a holy and righteous life, but sometimes we get confused between getting the approval of the people around us, and getting God's approval. Sometimes, God's purposes for our lives are so big, that our self-image can get in the way of us doing what God made us to do for His kingdom.

We've heard the saying: “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” That's a nice sentiment, speaking greatly to the virtue of courage and perseverance. But we must not overlook the role of God's grace in the process of one's restoration.

If we're going through an ugly situation – even if we're convinced that it's our fault for getting there in the first place - we still have a privilege to ask God to get us out of it. The bible tells us that God can give us a way of escape when we get into situations that are over our heads.

Faith entails a healthy dependence on God's deliverance. If we get into a threatening situation, we should ask God one time – ask God two times – ask Him as many times as we feel led to do so. And if God doesn't bring us right out of it, we have a right to ask God why He is allowing the problem to go on.

At the same time, as long as we're in a situation, we also have a right to ask God to give us the strength to hold on. God's power works best in us when we finally figure out that it's God who's fighting our battles, and not us.

Predicaments that we are too weak to resolve allow us more vividly to see God's grace and power. And this points to a somewhat-perplexing phenomenon: the sufferings that we go through are connected to God's unmerited favor. As the Psalmist has said: “The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground ... His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. “

A thorough discussion about God's grace cannot validly leave out the parts of our lives when we go through suffering. It is through those moments that we really discover the extent to which God will move heaven and earth to help us. In other words, an intimate experience with adversity explains the celebration that absolutely becomes necessary when God brings victory.

One commentator puts it this way: “Grace signifies the good-will of God towards us, and that is enough to enlighten and enliven us, sufficient to strengthen and comfort in all afflictions and distresses.” The painful circumstances through which God sends His grace remind us that our victory does not depend on our own strength or righteousness.

This is what is so amazing about grace. God's grace is simply more significant than the number of virtues that we have demonstrated, and more formidable that the level of our own faith.

This revelation may cause some initial discomfort. But that discomfort exposes our own vanity, as our natural impulse may be to presume that God's favor has some relationship to our own merit. But as God stated to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” In recognition of this truth, the apostle Paul stated: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Perhaps “no guts, no glory” doesn't tell the whole story. Maybe it should be “no grace, no victory.”