This morning as I woke up, I was greeted with an overwhelming sense of God’s Grace and Peace.

 

My heart was filled with gratitude as I started off my prayer walk; thanking Him for a brand new mercy.

 

When we receive God’s grace, we are receiving a special endowment from His Spirit to navigate and overcome the staunchest of trials. 

 

In 2 Corinthians 12 : 8 – 10, the Apostle Paul details his struggle with a hard situation in the midst of his assignment as a preacher and teacher of the Kingdom of God.

 

“…….Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

We are no different!

 

Have you ever been in a hard season, whether it was a health concern, a relationship break, a big project on the job, or launching a new product or service, and you felt… “this is tough, I wonder if God can just ‘zap’ me to the end result?

 

I know I have.

 

But Paul’s words give us great insight into how to acknowledge God in a difficult season, but also how to humbly submit to His Word.

 

Paul prays 3 times and nothing happens! 

 

…..Wait.. I thought that everytime you pray.. you GET what you prayed for! Not always the case! Shocking, I know!

 

Our prayers should align with what God’s Will is for our lives, hence why Paul identifies with God’s will for GRACE rather than his own desire for ESCAPE, ease, and comfort. 

 

Simply put, God will use the trial you are facing to make you stronger. 

 

This is an imperative point to understand; we have to be more committed to praying God’s will and word in tough situations, rather than our own desires. 

 

That’s what the grace of God is for… it’s for the weakness we all have as believers and humans in general. God gives us HIS power through His Spirit to ensure that we navigate the difficulty with a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (see  2 Timothy1:7) .

 

Let’s talk about peace.

 

In John 14:27 KJV , Jesus comforts His disciples as He is about to transition from only being their Master and Teacher to their Messiah, Redeemer, Savior and Lord through His death on the cross.

 

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

 

What I appreciate about Jesus’ words is that He doesn’t pawn the peace he is leaving to the disciples off to a saint or prophet of old. No,  He furnishes them with HIS peace!

 

You remember Jesus’ peace, right? (No, not the one with diamonds in it… YGTL** ?)

 

It’s the same peace that is found in Mark 4 where the profoundly peaceful and freshly awakened Jesus calms the winds and waves that were sure to destroy the boat and all in it.

 

Jesus shares with them, in essence, that “the peace you saw demonstrated in me on the sea as I slept through a violently rocking boat, screams and shouts from the passengers of the boat, and water splashing me in the face, is the same degree of peace I’m leaving you with…”MY PEACE!”. 

 

But it doesn’t end there, not just peace to be unbothered through a violent storm, but Peace to SPEAK to the storm… and IT OBEY!

 

This is the very disposition we must have during this time; Grace to deal with weakness in hard times as we fulfill our assignment, and PEACE to navigate the storm with a calming yet confident trust in our Father to use HIS Word in it all!

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Let’s keep the conversation going!

 

As always, like, love, and share this if it blessed you! You never know, you could bless someone else by your share! 

 

PT

**YGTL = You’ll Get That Later

…I hope you got it…?