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7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 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. 10 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.

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to someone? Maybe you’ve wondered why they have happened to you? Have you ever been tempted to think “If I just had more faith, I’d be healed” or perhaps “If I could just find the secret sin in my life, I wouldn’t struggle with this sickness.” That’s not the way it works. Sure, we do have to live with the consequences of our sins, but it is a false premise to think that if we lived a “perfect life” we’d have no issues, that’s just not true. Look at the Apostle Paul. He could definitely have boasted of being the most godly man in the Bible (outside of Jesus), and yet he had a physical ailment. He pleaded with God to heal him, and God would not. Rather, God promised to give Him grace sufficient to bear the difficulty, and this showed Paul that God would use this difficulty to teach him something productive. God’s grace is more than enough for us through the pain… it’s perfectly fine to ask Him to remove our struggle, but at the end of the day, we let that be God’s choice… we’ll trust him for the results.

 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!

Do you know anyone who is open to the idea of becoming a Christian, but they find some aspect of faith to be (literally) unbelievable? “Oh I just can’t believe all those animals fit on the ark” or “How can you think the earth was created in 6 days” or “you mean to tell me you believe ‘that’” or maybe even “Science has completely disproven the Bible!” Well, I certainly beg to differ with that last one… but I think you get the idea of what I’m saying. It can be helpful to encourage people to “slow down… back up…” I find that what most people actually object to is rarely something that is an explicit teaching of the Bible or perhaps it’s something they don’t really understand. The fact of the matter is, Christianity is the best explanation of the world around us, it may sound like foolishness at first, until you start comparing it to the alternatives. The Bible is true, if something in the Bible sounds like it can’t be true, bear with me in a little foolishness, there is a good answer to your question.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

We have to live in the world and deal with the attacks and insults of those who would seek to denigrate us because of our belief in Jesus. It’s our job to take the “high road” and not fight back in the same way they attack us. They will malign our integrity or impugn our intelligence, but we should not respond with such ad hominem attacks. No, we attack their arguments. We break down their worldview, because it doesn’t include Jesus, it can’t be true. We break down their strongholds without breaking down the person. He take every thought captive and we don’t let our minds run amuck, we obey Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life… trust in His truth.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

God has already equipped the church with all the financial resources needed to accomplish all He has called them to do. The only problem is, sometimes we hold on to those resources. What if every single person who attended a church regularly were to join that church? What if every single member attended their church regularly, without fail, unless providentially hindered? What if every person have 10% of their income to the work of the ministry of that church? Well, our world would look much different. You get out what you put in. If you are giving, growing, serving, loving… you’re part of an amazing church. If you’re attending sparingly and waiting on someone else to make you plug-in, you’re probably feeling left-out. There’s no compulsion to invest through your church, but there is an encouragement. You’re never going to truly be satisfied with your church until you’re all-in. Your church isn’t “they” or “them” it includes “you” and “us.” We are in this together!

Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Paul was in the process of a year long giving campaign for the church(es) in Jerusalem. The church in Corinth had initially agreed to participate in this “grace” (as it is called) but then some issues came up which made it difficult. The unforeseen issues in life that we all deal with that we didn’t count on. Paul seems to have understood that they did have a difficult time, but that now their issues have begun to subside, he wanted to remind them to follow-through on their original pledge. When we agree to give, serve, or do for God, there certainly will be times when life gets in the way, don’t let that derail you. Pick your commitment back up when you can. As long as you’re breathing, it’s not too late 🙂