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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: suffering

  • Thorns – God’s grace is sufficient

    Thorns – God’s grace is sufficient

    Hialayan blackberry closeup

    On a recent walk, I got grabbed by the thorns of a Himalayan Blackberry  bush as I passed by. They are mostly dormant now, but the thorns still grab the unwary.

    These blackberry bushes produce delicious, prolific berries, but are highly invasive. They are the bane of many landowners and park operators.

    Kathy and I joke that the blackberries are going to take over the world. They pop up in random spots and thrive. They crawl up and over anything in their path, including trees, cars, and fences. Their long branches hang down to snag on anything that passes by, and wherever those tendrils hit the ground, they root, and a new plant is started.

    Getting grabbed (again) got me thinking about a familiar passage in the Bible. After receiving revelations from God, Paul writes:

    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. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 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. 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. 2 Corinthians 12:6-10

    There is a lot of speculation about what form that “thorn” from Satan’s messenger actually took. Was it a form of illness, chronic pain, a besetting sin? I don’t know, and scholars much more learned and wiser than I have debated it. If God had thought it crucial that we know, He would have been clearer.

    What is clear is God’s response to Paul’s complaining, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

    God’s grace is sufficient. No matter what thorns or problems we face, God’s grace is sufficient to carry the believer.

    Everyone faces times of suffering and trial. It has been said that Christians face more than non-believers because our faith sets us up as targets. We’re not immune. Being a Christian doesn’t give us a get out of jail free card that allows us to bypass pain and suffering.

    Quite the opposite, in fact. God’s grace allows thorns to strengthen us and make us more like Jesus. Paul writes:  

    “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5

    We can go to God for relief from everything, but if it doesn’t happen how or when we want, we can still rejoice. His grace is enough.

    Enough? For what? His grace is sufficient for whatever we face. His grace will outlast any suffering, trials, or thorns we will encounter.

    Rejoice for God’s abundant, merciful, and perfect grace.

    Kevin

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  • Flood Waters – Perseverance in times of trial

    Flood Waters – Perseverance in times of trial

    abbotsford flooding Dec 11, 2025

    I live in Abbotsford, BC (the Lower Mainland,) and about a  5-minute drive from the US Border. We’ve been under an atmospheric river for some days, with more to come. (Image is not mine, credit to the photographer)

    The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines atmospheric rivers as “… relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. While atmospheric rivers can vary greatly in size and strength, the average atmospheric river carries an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Exceptionally strong atmospheric rivers can transport up to 15 times that amount. .…) When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.

    That means it’s been raining cats and dogs (and horses and cows and who knows what all else). The area has been experiencing flooding. Every route into the interior of the province is closed due to flood, rockslides, or mudslides. Washington State, to the immediate south of us, is having an even worse time.

    We’re in no danger. For the flooding to reach us where we live, I’d expect the neighbor to be building a huge boat and to see unclean animals coming by in pairs and clean ones in sevens. Still, it’s inconvenient for us and devastating for many, some of whom are still recovering from the 2021 flooding.

    Floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, hurricanes, storms, and other natural disasters are a simple fact of life in a fallen world. They have come about as a consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:17-19, 5:29).

    Like us, creation waits for the final culmination of all things when our Lord returns.

    For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:18-25

    There is a promised time when such things shall be no more. All will be set right, and we will be with God forever. The curse will be lifted, and creation will no longer groan in agony.

    Hold fast, my dear friends. His return is imminent, and all will be restored. We can’t predict the timing, for only the Father knows, but we can rest assured that He will keep His promises.

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Is it right belief or right living?

    Down to the river to pray