“Be still, my soul:
your God will undertake to guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your
confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last.”
These words were some of those sung by the women at the “My
Grace is Sufficient for You” conference this past weekend at Spring Lake
Church. The sweet sound of 500 women
worshiping God with hymns and praise songs provided a high point of the
conference for many. One song rich in
expressions of praise and trust flowed beautifully into the next, giving
opportunity for the women, including the thirty-seven women from New Hope, to
pour out their hearts to God.
Kay Arthur came from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to be the
conference speaker. In spite of her 79
years, she spoke with great energy, moving around the stage and into the crowd
as she communicated truths of scripture and how God has worked in her own
life. Kay’s talks were full of scripture
and serious challenges to know and trust God as well as cute, quickly-improvised
visual aids!
The conference theme was from II Corinthians 12:9, “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.” Kay pointed out the importance of context, and
that this verse comes after Paul had asked the Lord three times to remove his
“thorn in the flesh.” This affliction
(or weakness) was not removed, but instead Paul was assured that God’s grace
would be enough to get him through this suffering.
What exactly is grace?
Kay reminded us that it is undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor. The power that is “perfected in weakness” is
the same power that was promised to the disciples in Acts 1:8, which would come
to them as a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon them after Jesus returned to
heaven. Because we are given the Holy
Spirit when we trust in Christ for forgiveness of our sins, we have the power
needed to rest in God in the midst of afflictions. As the song quoted above
says, we can “be still,” trusting in God through the circumstances of our
lives, as His grace will be enough for us.
“What a wonderful, merciful Savior you are, Jesus. Indeed, it was because you embraced the
weakness of the cross that I can gladly boast in the weaknesses of my life and
the more-than-sufficient supply of your grace.
What a most profound, liberating, and hope-filled paradox.” (from the blog post mentioned on June 19, Heavenward)
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