God's Grace

Those of you who were here last Sunday realize that Pastor was not. He was out of town. We "seeded" him out making a spiritual investment in a church clear across the country. He doesn’t do this very often, once maybe twice a year, but he always comes back ignited with a new passion and that edge of an evangelist that is so vital to a pastor still sparkling in his eye.
When Sam and I met, he had already been an evangelist for five years. After we were married we stepped easily into the traveling routine of the itinerate preacher. We loved it, the kids both were on airplanes from within two weeks of their birth. Nathan had more frequent flyer miles at four years old than most adults have in a lifetime. Sarah was just turning two when the kids and I stopped traveling as much so she was a freebie. We flew out every Saturday, back home every Thursday. We stayed in a different hotel every week, went to a different church every week, the kids were in different nurseries every week, meeting different people every week and we loved it all. God gave us a special grace to endure the traveling, especially when the kids were so young.
Even when the kids and I got off the road we never looked at his traveling as a burden. The kids were just raised that daddy’s job is just like everyone else; his office is just a little further away. We loved it when he was home and went on with life when he was away. God gave us a special grace to endure the times of separation.
Fast forward to now. Sam being gone this past week has given me a whole new perspective on the grace of God. As Sam was packing and getting ready to go he said "I can’t believe I use to do this every week, how did I do it?" While he was gone I felt just a little out of step, you know like things weren’t quite in sync. I found myself having trouble sleeping without him. And I would say to myself at least a million times "How did I do this all those years?" God gave me (and the kids) special grace to endure the lonely times without him.
This is where 2 Corinthians 12:9 comes in and says "My grace is sufficient for you…" I think that means it is sufficient for the areas we need it most, when we need it. Those times and areas change constantly during our lives but God doesn’t. He will always be there with the grace we need to get us through what we need to get through when we need to get through it. (I hope y’all got that) My husband has a commentary that says this scripture means that the grace God gives us is "perfectly cut to proportion." It is God-designed to fit our need for that moment.
How incredible it is to know that the Creator of the universe would go out of His way to make sure that I have grace enough to sustain me through every challenge in my life. Our circumstances may change, but His grace will always be sufficient!!
Cya!
Brenda
BTW - Kudos to Pastor Kerry for delivering a powerful message in Pastor’s absence.