God, Why Won't You Do This For Me?

Have you ever been in a place where you felt as though you were striving to live for God; you weren’t perfect, but you were really trying. You were seeking after God and you were intentional about doing things the right way. You were really trying, yet you had this issue…this thorn in your flesh as apostle Paul called his, this thing that you just couldn’t seem to shake and with a heavy heart and tears in your eyes you asked God, “Why won’t You take this from me?” “Why won’t You heal me?” “Why won’t You help me to overcome this?” “God, why won’t You do this for me?” The thing is, you’re not coming from a place of anger or even pride, but it’s from a place of brokenness in your heart. You think to yourself God I’m not upset with You, I promise I’m not angry with You. I believe You to be God and I know that You can do this…I just don’t understand why You won’t God. I don’t expect You to fix it just because I’m living for You but I have faith that You can God  and I just want to know that my faith isn’t in vain…God I trust You and I believe You to be who You say You are…God please take this from me… 

Have you ever been in that place? It might be hard to admit that you have been but there’s a beauty in being real and honest with God. In our honesty with God, He reveals Himself to us and answers our questions in ways that we likely did not expect. I had a moment today where I asked God why won’t You do this for me. Why does this have to be my issue? Why does this have to be my thorn in my flesh? God…why won’t You do this for me? His response was in the form of a question as well; am I not still God even if I don’t? If I don’t do this for you am I not still God? Sometimes in the midst of our hurt, pain, frustrations, and everything else that our little emotions like to pull on, we forget that the fact that God has not done it for us is not equivalent to Him not being able to. We know that He can do all things but that's not really the question at hand. The real question is what are you going to do if He doesn’t do it? How are you going to respond even if He does not move on your behalf during what you feel is your time of need? 

Let’s take a moment and look at apostle Paul as he talks about having a thorn in his flesh.

If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, ⁷ even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.⁸ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. ⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. ¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:6-10, NLT).

Apostle Paul begged the Lord, he pleaded with the Lord, to take this thorn away from him. God, why won’t You do this for me? Every time His response to Paul was “My grace is sufficient for you.” Each time that Paul asked God to take it away I can imagine God saying Paul, don’t you understand? Do you not get it? My strength is made perfect in your weakness Paul. I see what you’re going through Paul. I feel what you’re going through Paul. I know you’re uncomfortable Paul. I know you don’t understand why you have go through this Paul. I know you want Me to take it away from you Paul. But I want you to know that My grace is all you need Paul. Now put your name everywhere that you see Paul’s name…

God is asking us do we really believe that His grace is sufficient? Do we really believe that it is still enough as we go before God asking Him why He won’t do this for us? God needs us to realize that it’s enough. It is more than enough. In the moments of weakness, it’s enough. In the moments of pain and discomfort, it’s enough. In the moments of frustration and uncertainty, it’s enough. It is enough; His grace is enough; God is more than enough. Trust me when I say I know it can be difficult to be in a place where you feel like you keep running into a brick wall as you keep dealing with the same issue that it seems like it just won't go away or get better. But are we responding as though we believe that God's grace is sufficient and that it is made perfect in weakness? Just as we have faith that God can change the situation or make it better, we must also have faith in His response that His grace is sufficient. We must really believe that it is enough...even for our issue. Until God gives us a different response we must learn to rest in the truth that His grace is all that we need.

As people who are self sufficient it can be difficult to be in a situation that you have no control over. It can be beyond frustrating to have to face a situation that you cannot fix or make right yourself. God says My grace is sufficient. He wants you to know that you don’t have to carry this weight by yourself. Stop holding on to it and all the mess and emotions that come with it. Give it to God today and tell Him whether He does this for you or not He is still God and you trust that His grace is more than enough. For when we are weak, then we are strong… 

Reminders:

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