Morning, March 4
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
2 Corinthians 12:9
"My grace is sufficient for thee."
2 Corinthians 12:9
If none of God's saints were poor and tried, we should not know half so
well the consolations of divine grace. When we find the wanderer who
has not where to lay his head, who yet can say, "Still will I trust in
the Lord;" when we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who
still glories in Jesus; when we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in
affliction, and yet having faith in Christ, oh! what honour it reflects
on the gospel. God's grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty
and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement,
believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of
apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring--that their God
will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly
support them in the trouble, as long as he is pleased to keep them in
it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace. There
is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm night--I cannot tell whether
the edifice is firm; the tempest must rage about it, and then I shall
know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit's work: if it were not
on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not
know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we
should not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are
those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, stedfast,
unmoveable,--
"Calm mid the bewildering cry,
Confident of victory."
He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with
many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his
conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it,
because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God.
As for his failing you, never dream of it--hate the thought. The God
who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.