Our Sufficiency Is Of God

2 Corinthians 3:5  ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.’

One of the most common mistakes we make, especially as new believers, and sometimes as more mature Christians, is to think that we can live a life pleasing to God in our own strength.  From the very beginning of our Christian experience we should realize that everything spiritual, from conviction to conversion, and subsequently everything we are and do has it’s origin in the work of God through His Holy Spirit.  At the beginning of the Beatitudes, Jesus said ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 5:3)  Here, He was affirming that only those who realize and acknowledge their spiritual insufficiency, and inability to save themselves, will look to Jesus in the hope of reaching God’s kingdom.  In James 1:17 we are told that ‘every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above’.  Without doubt this includes the gift of salvation, and the work of the Holy Spirit that follows.  Paul even goes as far as to say that we are not even sufficient of ourselves to think any good thing, much less to do anything good without the help of God.

Another example of the sufficiency of God was recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:5-10, when Paul petitioned God three times to take away an infirmity from him.  We are not told what the infirmity was, but God’s answer was not to take away the problem that was tormenting Paul.  Instead, Jesus said to Paul ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’  God was teaching Paul a lesson of total reliance on Him.  Regardless of the circumstances we as Christians find ourselves in, we can be confident the grace and strength of our Lord will be available and will be sufficient to see us through.

Have you proven God’s grace to be sufficient in your life’s trials?

Do you take your problems to God in prayer?