How to Receive the Grace to Keep Going through Troubles
By Rick Warren
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NIV).
What do you do when you can’t fix an unfixable problem? What do you do when you can’t solve an unsolvable riddle? What do you do when you can’t change an unchangeable circumstance? What do you do when you can’t control something that hurts deeply in your life?
You throw yourself on the sustaining grace of God.
How do you get the kind of grace to keep going in spite of temptations, trials, tension, tiredness, and troubles? You do four things:
1. Call out. Cry out for God’s help. When you pretend to be self-sufficient, you short-circuit God’s power in your life. You need to admit your inadequacy and say, “God, I can’t handle this!” The Bible says, “‘God is against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.’ So give yourselves completely to God . . . Come near to God, and God will come near to you” (James 4:6-8 NCV).
2. Fill your mind with God’s Word. Let God’s Word comfort, strengthen, fill, soothe, and energize you to keep going. Get into it every single day of your life. The psalmist prayed, “I lie in the dust; revive me by your word” (Psalm 119:25 NLT). If the solution were to look within yourself, you’d already be changed. You need to look to God! He’s the only one with sustaining strength.
3. Accept support from God’s people. The Bible says by helping each other with our troubles, we obey the law of Christ, which is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” God never meant for you to go through life on your own. Our weaknesses help us realize how much we need each other. You need to accept support from God’s people.
4. Hold on to God’s promises. There are at around 5,500 of them in the Bible waiting to be claimed. Here’s one of them: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired . . . but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31 NIV). Keep your hope in the Lord and your eyes focused on the hope of heaven, not just on the here and now.
The Bible says, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NIV).
When you’re going through a problem you can’t fix, don’t give up. Just look up!
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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