O my soul,

Do you doubt the adequacy of God?

Adequacy for what, you may ask? Well, everything.

Let’s start with the Apostle Paul’s heart-cry to the Lord.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

― 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

The context here is Paul’s ongoing struggle with the thorn in his flesh, a very real and almost overwhelming challenge and discouragement he had to endure. I have written before about the nature of the thorn, so let’s skip over that for now.

What remains is this statement of the Lord’s. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

O my soul, his grace is sufficient for you no matter what you are facing. No matter what lies ahead or what has gone before. Do you doubt it? You must not!

Do you even understand “for when I am weak, then I am strong”. This is so important. Let’s consider why.

Weak here is the Greek astheneō, which mostly means sick or infirm and can mean feeble or powerless. But sickness is debilitating, so what exactly is this strength? It is actually very simple, albeit most uncomfortable. Because when I am powerless, all I can do is trust the Lord, that he will protect and defend and do that which is beyond me.

It is so difficult to do this from a position of health and strength because that is the place of self-sufficiency. The one who is self-sufficient does not look to the Lord but to their own strength and ability, ironically so puny in comparison.

There are many different reasons for powerlessness and some have nothing to do with sickness or infirmity. One of these is integral to those power structures found in every human institution, every organisation, every social structure. In every such place there are usually a handful of people who hold power to the extent that others are almost entirely powerless. No depth of insight or wisdom or ability can counteract this, as such power is seductive and captivating and utterly intoxicating to the ones who wield it, and they simply will not give it up. And so oligarchy is the default state pretty much everywhere.

Job wrestled with this.

Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

― Job 21:7

But he didn’t receive an answer.

So when these powermongers lose their way and stray from the path of what is right and true, what is to be done?

Of course the answer for you and me is simply nothing. But with the Lord it is not so. By no means! And so we must trust him⸺that he knows and he cares and he is powerful to act.

And lest you think that you yourself are untainted by this arrogance and self-deception, beware, for each one of us is equally vulnerable to temptation in this regard.

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’

― Deuteronomy 8:11-17

Have the boundary lines fallen for you in pleasant places? Then thank and praise the Lord and acknowledge the wonders of his grace! Do not try to claim these as your own achievements but rather pray along with David.

Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

― 1 Chronicles 29:10

But back to powerlessness. Jesus himself experienced it as he emptied himself of all but love on his journey towards the cross.

But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!

― Psalm 22:19-20

How humiliating for the Lord of all Creation, the Word of Life himself, to be given over to the power of the dog.

But it did not and will not remain so. Praise the Lord!

But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

― Mark 14:61-62

The Lord’s name is Power, and indeed all power belongs to him. So listen to Paul again rejoicing in his own weakness.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

― 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

How interesting. Somehow the forces of evil arrayed against him were being kept in check. Of course they were, because the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. And what is that power?

For this reason, …, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, …, that you may know … what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

― Ephesians 1:15,16,18,19-21

That same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work around us and toward us and for us and in us. O my soul, that power is probably enough don’t you think?

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God?” Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

― Isaiah 40:27-29

The Lord is more than enough for whatever the situation. Praise him!

O my soul, rest in the adequacy of God and be grateful for your own weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon you! 🙏