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

El Shaddai means God Almighty or God all-sufficient. So this is the question –  Are we going to allow God to be our all-sufficient or are we going to be self-sufficient? In the U.S. culture, self-sufficiency seems to take pre-eminence.

Paul ends 2 Corinthians 12:10 with, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” That is the hard part. When we encounter hardships and difficulties it is easy to lash out or get discouraged. Instead the Lord wants us to embrace His grace and trust that He alone is sufficient.

Sufficient (arkeo) is an interesting word. In the context of 2 Corinthians 12:9, it states that God’s grace is enough or all that is needed.

Often I believe we want God’s grace to be overflowing in our lives. Yes, there are times when we experience that super abundance of grace. Yet I also believe there are times the Lord allows grace to be just sufficient because that is His best for us. 

Sufficient could be enough gas to just get you to the gas station. Sufficient could be just enough faith to get you through the next minute, hour or day. Sufficient is all we need. In the wilderness, the Israelites were allowed to collect only enough manna that was sufficient for that day.

Sufficient is a blessing because it reinforces our daily need to rely on the Lord. Complacency could easily creep in if we could effortlessly withdraw from our “grace bank account.” Yes, there is an infinite supply of God’s grace, but in His wisdom, He chooses to give us the sufficient amount needed for that particular time in our life. 

Sufficient often does not “feel” good since we would like the situation to be over. Sufficient is not usually fun. Sufficient does require us to give the problem to the Lord knowing that He sees the bigger picture. 

The exciting, powerful end result of God’s sufficient grace is that when we walk in the grace the Lord provides, we are made strong. 

That is sufficient!

~ Marianne