This morning, I was reading through Paul's list in 2 Corinthians 11. The dude went through a lot! As caregivers, we have quite the list, too, but I'm not sure it's measurable or comparable to Paul's. Robbers, beatings, shipwrecks, prison stays, swept away at sea, and even one stoning. Can one man handle all that? Evidently, Paul goes on to say he's not boasting. Instead, he's giving examples to demonstrate that God can carry us through anything. In the next chapter, one single thing was annoying Paul, and it's not clear what that one big thing was. However, he explains to the Christians in Corinth that God has told him that His grace is enough for the whatevers. We can count on that grace to be enough for today as well.
God is able to see us through thick and thin circumstances. I know that's an older term, and I am not even sure what it means. Lol. But I do know that life can feel so thick I can't breathe sometimes. And my patience can run thin. No matter what - God's grace is enough. We can look at Paul's life and see that it is thick with difficult circumstances. But here he is, reminding us in 2023 to trust God's grace to carry us through. Isn't that the key to life? Just trusting God's grace to get us through one moment at a time, one challenge at a time, one situation, or one day at a time? I don't know about you, but sometimes, I need to trust Him one second at a time. And it is okay if we need to do it over and over and over every single day. God's still got the grace we need to make it through whatever we face.
Grace is a staple in the caregiver's life. His grace is enough for whatever gets put on our proverbial plate today, as well as anything that gets removed. His grace covers us in our losses, our griefs, and our pains just as much as it does in new situations and circumstances we've not yet learned to navigate.
Today, I'm so thankful for the grace of God. I will remind myself of those times when I know it was His grace that carried me through. I'll also remind myself that His grace has carried me through things that I didn't even know were happening around me. My thoughts will be on the all-sufficiency of His grace that no matter how thick the circumstances, how thick the muck I'm trying to navigate mentally, or how stuck I feel - it's still enough. I'll also meditate on how His grace is enough when I feel too thin to carry the load of caregiving, or when I feel the pocketbook is too thin, or in circumstances where I'm sure I'm losing it because my patience and my own grace for myself seems too thin. No matter what - His grace is enough to handle it - to handle me today. So, I will trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?
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