THE GOD WHO IS SUFFICIENT
“And when Abram was ninety years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect”. Genesis 17:1.
When addressing Abram, God referred to Himself as “The Almighty God”. The Hebrew word is “El-shaddai” which means “I am God all sufficient” or “the God who is enough”. God wanted Abram to know that in every situation he faced, He would be his sufficiency.
We, too, can find in God all we need to meet the many and varied situations that confront us. Whether it is the forgiveness of our sins, the ability to live a godly life, coping with problems or guidance for our lives, our God is “sufficient” for every situation. He is the God who is “enough”. The words “sufficient” and “sufficiency” occur several times in 2 Corinthians, each time referring to God’s ability and willingness to supply some important need in our lives.
Following are three of the “sufficient” verses in 2 Corinthians in the King James version of the Bible:
1. My grace is sufficient for you. 2 Corinthians 12:9
2. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. 2 Corinthians 3:5
3. And God is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye, always having all
sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
Looking first at 2 Corinthians 12:9 in its context, we learn that Paul had experienced a special visitation from God, being caught up to paradise and hearing inexpressible words. But God saw that this experience could lead to Paul becoming proud, so the Lord permitted Satan to afflict him in some way, not explained. Paul earnestly prayed three times that God would remove this “thorn in the flesh”, but the Lord did not answer his prayer in the way that Paul had hoped. Instead, He promised that Paul would be given sufficient grace to meet the trial. Paul accepted God’s decision and came to rejoice in that, when he was weak in himself, he would become strong, relying more upon God. God’s grace would be “sufficient”.
From Paul’s experience we can learn several things. First, there is the ever present danger of pride creeping into our lives, whoever we are. Pride can quickly spoil our relationship with the Lord. (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:6, 2 Chronicles 26:15, Proverbs 16:5). Next, it seems hard to understand that a man like Paul who had done such evil things to God’s people would ever become proud, but God sees dangers we do not see and He was determined to keep His servant humble, even if it meant that Paul was to have a painful experience. God sometimes answers our prayers in ways that will make us better people. Thirdly, we can learn that special revelations from God can lead us to become proud, feeling that we are something special. But in spite of the difficult and painful experiences we may meet, God’s grace will always be “sufficient”. So let us “trust in Him at all times” (Psalm 62:8).
We come now to our second “sufficient” in 2 Corinthians 3:5, where we learn that we must never be self-sufficient in our service for the Lord. Our sufficiency is from God. If anything of lasting value is to be achieved in our service, it must be blessed by the Lord.
We could also look at the words of Jesus in John 5:19 and also at John 3:27 and
1 Corinthians 15:10.
Our third “sufficient” is in 2 Corinthians 9:8 which teaches us how God can supply our material needs. He is able to ensure that we will always have enough for our own needs and some to share with others. Paul had been teaching the church at Corinth about giving and in verse 6 of chapter 9 he explains the law of sowing and reaping. The person who is a cheerful giver can expect that God will supply sufficient for his needs and enable him to share with others.
In conclusion, we learn that our God is sufficient for our every need, whether in our suffering, our service for Him or in the supply of our needs.
This article was written by Pastor Geoffrey Davies. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he pastored a church for over twenty-five years. Since 1983 he has travelled widely, continuing his ministry of encouragement and Bible teaching.
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