Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Recently, I spoke at a church and I followed it up with a question and answer time. The questions ranged from things about our ministry, to questions about reaching lost people, to my family. It was a little of everything. One man in the back asked a question that was even a little amusing. He said, "Where do you get all this energy?" I have been accused of being the Energizer Bunny, but the ironic thing is that I had come into that church totally depleted by a heavy weekend of outreach. I was wishing I could just go to my room and sleep, to tell you the truth. In fact, I even told the pastor that the meeting isn't going to be very long because I was too exhausted. It went for two hours! Physically, I think I must just have deep reservoirs of adrenaline. Adrenaline is our friend at times when we just don't have what it takes physically to meet the demands of the moment. Adrenaline is that amazing substance that you don't have when you don't need it, but that surges into your system at just the moment you do need it. And you are able to do things that if I had asked you earlier you would say you could never do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heavenly Adrenaline."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 9:8 - a great verse here: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." Well, there it is - grace, the spiritual adrenaline of God. People have been known to do amazing things when an emergency arose, physically speaking. They have been able to lift incredible weight, fight off someone who is much stronger than they are because the adrenaline rush empowered them in a way that they were never empowered before.
Well, the God who invented adrenaline to give us resources to match our moment also invented grace to accomplish that same miracle. Grace can be defined as God's intervening power and love when we're running on empty. And God gives us this phenomenal, comprehensive insurance policy. He says He will give it to us, "in all things ... at all times ... having all you need." There will never be a situation where you will not have emotional and spiritual resources to match it; in fact, to more than match it. The word "abound" is the same word used to describe the basketfuls of leftovers after the feeding of the 5,000. It means literally, having more than enough. In a situation that looks like you have nowhere near enough, Jesus will turn that into more than enough by releasing His grace adrenaline through your system.
Recently, I touched that grace very powerfully in a single day. In the morning, I talked with Greg who along with his wife were on the eve of the arrival of their first child when the baby died in the womb. They had to go through the whole process of delivery for a baby that was already gone. You can imagine the pain in their hearts. I asked Greg, "How are you doing?" He said, "Well, so many people are praying, and we can feel those prayers. We're hurting, but it's amazing, we're making it." There is only one explanation for that - strong grace.
That night I stood by the casket of a good friend who had died unexpectedly. As I talked with his wife and children, I was amazed as everyone else was there, at their poise and strength - a strength that was more than they ever experienced before. That's because they never needed it before, but when they needed it, it was there. Spiritual adrenaline. Strong grace. And that grace is there for you, in the seemingly unbearable burden that you may be facing right now.
If you know Jesus, there may be some things in your life that are or will be almost unbearable. But because of His grace adrenaline, there is no such thing as unbearable. His grace is always greater than the burden.