“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This verse is in response to the Apostle Paul’s request that God remove his “thorn in the flesh.” No one knows what the “thorn in the flesh” refers to. I think this is for the best. Because each of us face our own “thorns in the flesh” at different seasons in our lives.

Whatever this “thorn in the flesh” refers to for the Apostle Paul, we know that it was painful enough, draining enough, exhausting enough for Paul to ask God to remove it from him three times. The three times represents a complete number. My guess is that it wasn’t just three times that the Apostle Paul prayed for this, but that it was a constant prayer that God remove the source of pain.

It was to Paul’s prayer that God responds, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

You see, what God promises is not that he would take the suffering and pain out of his people. What God promises is the addition of grace in the midst of pain and suffering so that we can suffer triumphantly. We can suffer triumphantly because suffering is temporary. We can suffer pain triumphantly because God’s grace provides us with the assurance that “All things will work together for the good for those who trust in Jesus” (Romans 8:28). In fact, God promises to work through our suffering and pain to make us stronger.

The Apostle Paul responds to God’s affirmation of grace by saying, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:8).

God’s grace is infinitely greater than any suffering or pain we may endure.

So, take heart, my friends. In God’s kingdom suffering and pain never get the last word. God’s grace is more than sufficient. God’s grace abounds!

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1).

Don’t get me wrong.

I do give thanks. I am thankful that my family is healthy and doing well.

• I thank God that the people of the Little Church are doing well and staying healthy. Yes, we always have people who are going through medical issues, but over all, we are still doing well.
• I thank God for the staff, elders, deacons, volunteers and all those at the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace who make our church such an amazing community.

I do give thanks, for the Lord is good. His love indeed endures forever.

But…

This has been a really long, difficult, and challenging year.

• The social distancing is wearing on me.
• The inability to see our members is wearing on me.
• Not getting together with my friends and extended family members is exhausting.
• I don’t like it that we are no longer able to travel as we once did.
• I am not sure if I would have started my doctoral work had I known most of it would have been online learning instead of in person learning.

This year has been long. This year has been challenging.

As I was praying this morning, it felt like I was being ungrateful to God. But that’s not it. I am thankful for all that. And I am still tired and weary because of 2020.

I used to think that if you were grateful, you wouldn’t be tired, weary, and stressed. But I no longer think that. I now know you can be grateful for God’s protection and goodness AND you can be tired and weary. It’s perfectly normal. 2020 has been a hard year. It would be ludicrous to pretend 2020 has been a fun, great, exciting year.

It is perfectly possible to lose a loved one and hurt like crazy and still be thankful. And I think God’s okay with that.

God’s okay with the fact that a lot of his children are not okay with how 2020 is going. Our weariness doesn’t negate our gratitude. Because it is absolutely true that God is still good. And, there is nothing 2020 can take away from how much God loves us and is for us.

So, friends, it’s okay not to be okay. Just don’t forget about God’s goodness.

We can be both thankful AND weary.

God’s big enough for that. And, what’s more, God already knows that we’re weary and tired.

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

There is nothing 2020 can do to change that reality.

“The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds” (Psalm 145:13b).

God is faithful in all his words and promises.

• If God said it, you can bank on it! There is nothing that God promises that will not come to fruition.
• With human beings we have to prove our faithfulness because there are too many times where our words are in discord with our deeds. But with God this isn’t the case. Remember how God created the heavens and the earth in Genesis? God spoke it, and it was so. That’s how it works with God. There is never a time when what God speaks is inconsistent with what God does.

God is gracious in all his deeds and all he does.

• Because God is good, kind, loving, omnipotent, and omniscient, everything God does comes from the position of grace and love.
• This means that everything God does is loving, king, and good.

What an awesome God! And the best part is we get to call him Father.

Take heart, Christian. Remember who your God is. Remember your Father.

Finally, God calls each and everyone of us to follow in his footsteps. Can you imagine what America would look like today if Christians were faithful in all our words and gracious in all our deeds? That is our calling. That is our charge.