Paul wrote, There was given me a thorn in my flesh from Satan to torment me.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me, but he said, my grace is sufficient

for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

This is Max Lakato, the cancer in the body, the sorrow in the heart, the child in the rehab center,

the craving for whiskey in the middle of the day, the tears in the middle of the night, the thorn in the flesh.

Take it away, you've pleaded, not once, twice, or even three times, you've outprayed the

Apostle Paul, and you're about to hit the wall. But what you hear

Jesus say is this, my grace is sufficient for you. Sustaining grace. Grace that meets us at our

point of need and equips us with courage and wisdom and strength. Sustaining grace.

It doesn't promise the absence of struggle, but it does promise the presence of God.