“God’s grace is sufficient”…have you ever said that to someone? Was it just something to say or did you really believe it? Maybe you’ve had an experience with God that cemented that belief in your life or you have walked a daily journey with God and He continues to prove to you His sufficiency so you could in turn encourage someone else.
You may remember my story of missing the kids after we move to Kenya and, believe me, I’m still working on this but the Lord continues to bring help to me in this area through other God-followers…
We recently met Barbara and Bruce at our friends in Indiana. Bruce has been on several medical mission trips but their most recent was to Tenwick Hospital in Kenya at the end of 2009. Barbara accompanied him on this trip and she said it had taken much preparation and God’s intervention for them to go and after introducing ourselves Barbara began to recount a story that would touch me deeply.
During the year their daughter had a difficult time getting pregnant, but with much prayer she conceived shortly before the 6 week trip to Kenya. The family was thankful for not only making the arrangements for their trip but also helping their daughter and son-in-law begin a family of their own.
On the day they left Indiana and arrived in Detroit for the 10 hour flight to Amsterdam then onto Kenya they received a phone call from their daughter – she had begun to bleed and they weren’t sure if the baby would survive. There they were in the Detroit airport, just a 45 minute drive away from their daughter in Lansing,on their knees asking God “what should we do?” do they drop the trip and go to their daughter or continue on? Barbara said while they were praying she felt God had done so much to get them to this point that He wouldn’t drop them now. She said she needed to put her daughter in God’s hands, trust Him and continue on the trip.
I had only known Barbara about 10-15 minutes at this point and she was speaking directly into my heart. She said when they reached Amsterdam and called family they heard how everyone had rallied around their daughter and God had blessed them all through a difficult and scary situation and today the baby is fine! Barbara’s other children had been there for their daughter and she said those blessings would have been missed if her and Bruce had not trusted the Lord. She could say to me with certainty, trust and faith that God’s grace was sufficient and always will be.
As I replay this in my mind I find another moment goes by and I feel God’s peace and presence a little more and my faith a bit stronger trusting His grace to be sufficient not just in the area of missing my kids but in all areas. And as God walks this path with me I can also encourage others that because I see His sufficiency I can tell them “God’s grace is sufficient!”