23 Feb My Grace is Sufficient (Lent Series Part 2)

February 26 – Day 8 (Thursday)

Reading: ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. ¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”–Acts 9:15-16

Reflection: Have you ever considered that God has chosen you carefully like a composer or producer would choose an instrument. Your story brings a special sound that adds to the mix of the ensemble of the universe, the symphony of the cosmos. But, our lives are not meant to be stories told in isolation to make ourselves sound great (like the people who built the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11); instead, our stories are meant to make God’s name great.

Prayer: God, thank you that I have a part to play in the great opus that is your divine plan. Remind me that I am but a small part in the great sweep of history; but also remind me that my role matters and that you have chosen me for a reason. Not to us, but to your name always be the glory.

February 27 – Day 9 (Friday)

Reading: ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; ¹⁹ and taking food, he was strengthened.–Acts 9:17-19

Reflection: The true benefit of accepting a crisis moment as an opportunity is that it can grant us new vision and perspective. Saul had something like scales fall from his eyes which points to the reality that the snake-like hold of Satan’s darkness falling from Saul’s eyes. When we allow God to use our moment of crisis in the same way, we, too, have an opportunity to better see ourselves and our own sins and defects. How might a crisis moment now or in the past teach you about yourself and allow you to see more clearly who you are?

Prayer: Jesus, thank you that you have removed the scales from my eyes, allowing your light to shine on the messy parts of my life. Help me to see myself rightly and better understand where you are calling me to repent and change. May your light always shine in my life, even into the dark and messy parts of my life, amen.

February 28 – Day 10 (Saturday)

Reading: ¹⁹ “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. ²¹ For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²² To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³ that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”–Acts 26:19-23

Reflection: Paul looks  back on his crisis moment as an opportunity. As Paul gets more and more accustomed to sharing his story, Paul learns to share his whole history, even the ugly and messy parts. The beauty of integrating even out moments of struggle and crisis into the way we tell our stories is that it helps us connect with the struggles of others. Paul is able to speak with boldness before even kings because he has practiced “testifying to both small and great.” What parts of your story might you be tempted to leave out? How might talking about your moments of struggle and crisis bring hope to others?

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for meeting me in my moments of crisis in the past. Help me to share these moments—even the messy parts—with others who are in crisis right now. Let me be a light in the darkness; may my story be a beacon of hope to all who hear it, amen.

Week 2: Hope – Romans 5:1-11. Paul makes sense of suffering and even finds purpose and a reason to rejoice in it as suffering produces endurance, character, and character hope.  Therefore, there is reason for hope even in the midst of the most difficult crisis. The source of hope to Paul is that Christ has died for us even as we are sinners, justifying us with his blood, and reconciling us to God.  

March 2 – Day 11 (Monday)

Reading: ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 
–Romans 4:17-20

Reflection: This passage beautifully illustrates a core of “hug your cactus”: having hope in the midst of very difficult times. Abraham and Sarah did not deny that they were old and unlikely to have children; instead, their trust was deeper and stronger in the promises of God than the obstacles in their way. It’s truly incredible that we follow a God who “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” Where do you need this kind of faith and hope in your life? How can you both accept the challenging parts of your current situation and still hold onto hope that God will get you through this trying time? 

Prayer: God, I bring before you now whatever trying thing that is making my life difficult right now. I do not pretend it is not there; instead, I submit this thing into your hands while holding onto hope that you will carry me through this season. Help me to have hope and faith even when it is challenging, even when I’m anxious and worried about the future. I trust in you, Jesus, to be with me even as I walk through darkness, amen.

March 3 – Day 12 (Tuesday)

Reading: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
–Romans 5:1-5

Reflection:  Both here and in James 1:2-4 we see that there is a progression towards the end goal of hope, maturity and character. The beginning place is a place we usually don’t go willingly: suffering and trials. Paul is bold enough to say that we have joy in the midst of suffering (remember, Paul used the word “joy” more in his prison letter of Philippians than any other letter). The only way we can have hope and joy in the midst of suffering is if we have heavenly perspective that this difficult times will make us men and women of character, people whose hope is unshakeable.

Prayer: Father, help me to have the kind of faith that seeks to allow suffering to mold me into a person of character and hope. Grant me eyes to see past the difficult parts of my current circumstances so that I can see how it is shaping me into a person of maturity and steadfast hope. Remind me that no suffering in your name is every wasted because the Spirit is with us in every circumstance working even the ugly and messy parts of my life into a beautiful tapestry of hope, amen.

March 4 – Day 13 (Wednesday)

Reading: ⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
–Romans 5:6-8

Reflection: The good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to wait for anything for God to redeem us and give us hope. Unlike the popular misconception, we don’t “need to get our act together before coming to God or before coming to church. Jesus came to rescue and save sinners in the same way that an EMT rescues those who are injured (Jesus saves us “while we were weak”); instead, the focus is on God’s rescuing action and sacrificial love, namely that Jesus died for us. This kind of love is hard for us to even fathom as Paul points out that we can imagine sacrificing for a good and righteous person, but never for someone that hasn’t yet reformed or changed their life. In short, we celebrate the beauty of the gospel that Jesus saves us both before and without consideration of our good works or acts of faith.

Prayer: Jesus, I thank you that you save me BEFORE I ever had any faith or did anything to follow you. Jesus, thank you that you save me APART from anything I could ever do, think or say. Help me to trust solely in your sacrificial love. Jesus, be the bedrock of my hope and faith for the future. Help me to internalize and feel this truth in the depth of my heart and soul, that you grace is sufficient for me, amen.