The Gift of Grace that Grows from Our Challenges

Maybe I haven’t been listening carefully, but I don’t recall ever hearing someone say, “It was only after my huge success that I finally got my priorities straight. It was only after the big book deal and the first million in the bank that I cried out to God with sincerity.”

Isn’t it true that it’s usually just the opposite?

We encounter difficulty, suffering, or even the specter of death, and suddenly we realize our priorities have been out of whack, our relationships are shallow, and our faith is an afterthought.

I’ve been meditating on 2 Corinthians 4 since my diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease, particularly Paul’s words about suffering:

"This light and momentary affliction is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

I see in this pronouncement an invitation to pile all the inconvenience and discomfort of a chronic illness onto God’s balance scale and to see it fly up like feathers against the weighty and substantial glory that somehow results from suffering. For the believer, there’s an organic relationship between the two—for the “weight of glory” is not simply compensation for the loss, but somehow grows out of it.

Thomas à Kempis wrote, “The more the flesh is wasted by affliction, so much more is the spirit strengthened by inward grace.”

Grace is what’s given if we are wise enough to see it and to receive it. When we demand comfort, answers, resolution, and immediate relief, we may miss the gift that’s being given—that’s actually growing out of our weakness, frustration, or loss.

Think back to one of the most difficult challenges of your life. In hindsight, was God able to use that time for your benefit? How does this realization help you in processing today’s challenge?