My Grace is Sufficient
I received a vision yesterday, while praying. It was somewhat perplexing, so that I continued this morning, praying to understand its meaning. I received two more parts of the vision this morning, and then this afternoon, I believe God confirmed his message.
In the vision, I see a white plate, with the crumbs that are left from buttered toast. Suddenly ants appeared on the plate and each were carrying one crumb apiece. There were just as many ants as there were crumbs.
Next, I see a piece of paper with words written in black. I could not read the words because they were small and upside down to me. Then the words changed from black to red.
This is all that I saw, and I failed to understand. But this morning while praying, God gave me the meaning of the words that I couldn't read: "My grace is sufficient." These are the words that changed from black to red.
Then He gave me two other visions, I saw a group of manilla colored file jackets with their contents. They were upright, but their labels were not in view.
Then I saw a single piece of paper, with a schematic drawing and its various symbols. The symbol that was most prominent, yet still small, was a white capital letter "A" printed onto a solid red circle.
This afternoon, I was in the doctor's office waiting for my husband to finish. I had brought my Oswald Chambers devotional with me, and happened to be reading the entry for June 25th. Suddenly, all the black letters turned red, just like it had happened in my vision. I believe God was showing me that the two messages were connected, and that because they were in red, they were to be read as if inspired by God, just as the red letters in the Bible were the words spoken by Jesus.
The words on the paper that I saw in a vision yesterday read: "My grace is sufficient." These words were spoken by the Lord to Paul, after he had prayed many times for the pain he was suffering to be taken from him. The full quote is: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
The Lord was in effect saying to Paul, that the pain that he suffered, kept him dependent upon the Lord, where his weakness and humility would allow God's power to manifest in signs, wonders and miracles, for the benefit of others. If God had granted him everything that he prayed for, he might become prideful and believe that he had done these amazing things because of who he was. But God, kept Paul humble and was able to use him powerfully. "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6 and Proverbs 3:34
I thought I would share with you some of the highlights from Oswald Chamber's text that I was reading, which turned red:
"As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow."
"We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires..... Sin, sorrow and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them."
"Sorrow removes a great deal of a person's shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow."
This is the reason I believe God uses sorrow, pain, and trials:
"You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people." (Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest," entry June 25)
Now to explain the remaining pieces of the vision, we begin with the ants. I did not believe at first the ants represented people, but I see now that they do. The white plate with the crumbs represents God's provision. "Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11 The number of crumbs available, allowed each ant to have but one crumb. There was no excess, but just enough for each to carry one.
God provides for us like he did for the Israelites in the wilderness. When he sent manna from heaven, he gave them instructions to only collect the amount that they would eat for that day, one omer for each person. "The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. " Then Moses said to them, 'No one is to keep any of it until morning.' However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them." Exodus 16:17-20
What God gives us every day, is what we need. Whether we have pain, or sorrow, plenty or lack, we need to learn to be content. Paul said, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13
God wants us to learn to trust him with our needs, our provision, our pains and our sorrows.
The files and the schematic drawing with the letter "A", represent God's work and instructions for us. God wants us to be faithful to carry out his work. The files are unlabeled because each of us have a different set of files. Some of us work as doctors, some as mechanics, some as drivers, some as care-givers and some as artists and designers. We each have a place in the world, but we need to be concerned with the work that God calls each of us to do.
The schematic drawing is God's directions or instructions to us. The letter "A" is prominent, because He is telling us to begin with what is most important to God. What is God's directive to us? What was Jesus's directive to Martha?
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42
What was Martha concerned for? Martha concerned herself with logistics, her home, the guests, the food - and that her sister Mary was not helping her to accomplish her tasks.
What was Mary concerned for? Mary wanted to sit and learn from Jesus. Jesus said that to learn from him was the more important thing, and that it would not be taken from her.
"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8 God's directives can often be in direct opposition to our priorities. That is why it is so important to put God first in our everyday lives.
Martin Luther was believed to have said, "I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer."
I believe that when we pray, God changes our priorities. He lightens our load, and gives us peace and direction. I believe prayer -spending time with God, is the most important thing we can do. Intimacy with the Lord is his top priority. It is what the "A" represents.
Too many people feel the stress of the day, and just rush out the door, without any attempt to "include" God in their lives. If we do not have time for him now, what will happen on that day when we stand before him to give an account? Jesus makes it clear that not everyone is a true disciple:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?'"
"Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" Matthew 7:21-23
Wouldn't we rather hear these words: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" Matthew 25:21
What is the difference? Why was the first group rejected, even though they seemed to be doing everything that a disciple should: prophesying, casting out demons and performing miracles? Those in the first group were acting as disciples, but their hearts were not right. Their ministry was important to them, but intimacy with God was not. They wanted to say, "We did this, and we did that, for the Lord," but the Lord was not directing them. They were acting on their own. They wanted to please themselves and look good in the eyes of their peers. "There is a way that appears right, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12
God looks as the heart. He wants everyone to know him. How can we say that someone is our "best friend," but we do not spend time with him? Who are we kidding?
Let's spend our first hours with the Lord. God will accomplish all that he wants to do in us if we commit our lives to him. So, no matter what may happen, no matter what we may suffer, the Lord will provide our daily bread, and the grace needed. "My grace is sufficient."
