Lord, I Depend on your Grace

Thank you for your title suggestions! I’m preparing to speak at a breakfast for grieving parents in PA this Saturday so I’ve not made a final decision—but you will be the first to know. Today’s post is a sample from the yet unnamed book. The accompanying passage is 2 Cor. 12:7b-10.

 Day 38

Lord, I Depend on your Grace

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession.

2 Corinthians 2:14a

I have thorns. They are afflictions from my loss, throbbing reminders of what no longer is. They prickle and pain me, sharp mementos of a tragedy I can’t undo. If I find a comfortable position they are quick to pierce my peace and, like old injuries, they throb in stormy conditions. I have prayed for them to be removed, but God tells me the same thing He told Paul, “My grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

What does sufficient grace look like? It is strength when I’m bone-weary. It is peace when I’m disordered. It is contentment when I stop striving. It is one more step on a path I never wanted to walk. It is offering words of comfort from the well within me. I have enough grace for God to radiate from me and reveal Jesus.

God’s grace lifted me from bed in my lowest days. It propelled me out the door when I wanted to hide. It enabled me to smile in darkness and stand in a crowd. That may not sound like a triumphal procession, but they are my victories and could only be realized through grace.

I will press on—by God’s grace. I will grow strong—by God’s grace. And at the end of my life’s journey, I will join the triumphal procession to glories I now vaguely imagine. And so will you. We will be thorn-free and forever tell of the grace that carried us home.