His grace is sufficient...

This morning I am fighting not one, but two migraines.  They came on me after I went for blood work, as I arrived at Curves to get a little exercise. I took my medication, and am functioning fairly well.  And as I have aged, the headaches have decreased in severity, making them fairly manageable most of the time.

I began getting migraines at about the age of 5 or 6, and starting at that time and throughout my high school and early college years, they were fairly severe. They usually included pain, nausea and vomiting, numbness in my hands and feet, and severe noise and light sensitivity. I spent a good deal of time in a dark bed, with a good deal of time to think and pray.  I have redeemed a lot of  my migraine time by praying for others.  It is always healthy to get ones mind off of oneself, after all, and praying for those whose needs are greater than your own is a good way to get perspective.

Sometime in high school, I first studied the passage about Paul's suffering in 2 Corinthians 12:

⁷So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹But he said to me,  "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. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Now, I haven't had the surpassing greatness of revelation that Paul had, but God has blessed me beyond measure, and these dratted headaches have surely kept me more humble than I would otherwise have been. I have always wondered if Paul had migraines.   Like him, I have pleaded for these things to stop.  But also like him, God's answer has been that His grace must be sufficient for me in and through them instead.

So today I am fuzzy around the edges, and have the vaguest hint of a headache, and may need to take a nap.  But I choose to look at this as an opportunity to see how God will make Himself sufficient for me today.  May you find Him sufficient for all your needs today also, Gentle Reader!