"My grace is sufficient for you..."

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (emphasis added) Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 

- II Corinthians 12:7-10

These past few weeks have probably been the busiest weeks of my life. I have never experienced such a heavy workload with courses, meetings, papers, sickness, assignments, articles, and other matters...nor have I gone this long on so little sleep! (I'm averaging a bedtime around 2:30 and getting up around 7:45, and no, I don't recommend it!) My time with the Lord has greatly suffered (especially my morning quiet times), but I have found that in this time of utter chaos, I'm longing to spend time with the Lord. While my time in the Word is lacking (which I'm working on), I'm spending time in prayer...why? because I see that I need Him. I know that I cannot make it through a day, much less a week or a month, without crying out to my Heavenly Father. It is in times of chaos, confusion, and trouble that I turn to God (although it should be at all times). Despite how hard these past few weeks have been (and will continue to be), I'm so thankful that God is using all of this to draw me to Himself and call me to trust on Him for my strength.

As I made my to-do list tonight, I was immediatly overwhelmed and thought, "How in the world am I going to finish everything?" The passage from II Corinthians came to my mind. While Paul's speaking about a thorn in the flesh, perhaps chaos and business is my thorn right now. God has called me to be faithful, to work hard, and not to back down from what He has called me to do (and as I keep reminding myself, right now, He's called me to be a student!). No matter how I overwhelmed or inadequate I feel, I KNOW that He is there sustaining me and guiding my footsteps. 

It seems that most of my friends are in the middle of chaos, confusion, pain, or just overall crazy/busy semesters. Let II Corinthians 12:7-10 be an encouragement to us and a reminder to rest in Him and not what we can do. His power is made perfect in our weaknesses and He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us! (Deut. 31:8)