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Transforming Grace
Discussion Guide, Chapter 7c: The Sufficiency of Grace (Just-In-Time Grace and
Contentment)
Central Idea: God’s grace enables us to persevere and grow despite any and all
obstacles. God gives each of us the grace we need to fulfill the ministry and service He
has given to us to bring glory to His Name.
Review
Last week, we saw real-live examples of people in the Bible who sought God’s
sufficient grace through prayer in the midst of their circumstances.
- There is a strong element of desperation and urgency.
- There is a strong element of remembrance: The writers use their minds to recall all that
the Lord has done for them.
- They praise Him in prayer.
- They wait for Him in prayer.
- They gained strength through prayer.
- There seems to be a daily element to these passages. They are being afflicted daily, and
they are drawing on the compassions of God, which are new every morning—to meet their
needs.
- They draw their strength from their salvation, the fact that they have been saved. They
seem to have the attitude, "If God can save me, then why would He not provide for
me?"
- None of the writers are rosy and comfortable when they start speaking to God. They are
all looking for God, searching, waiting, feeling downcast.
- There seems to be a reality to these prayers. They aren’t praying to God for the
sake of prayer: They are looking for God’s refuge and comfort. God is their goal, not
prayer.
"Just-In-Time" Grace
Read Ex 16:16-21. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground
appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other,
"What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is
the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one
is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your
tent.'" 17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18
And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he
who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. 19
Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." 20
However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but
it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. 21 Each morning
everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
- Why do you think Moses told the Israelites not to store any manna until morning
?
- It reminded them every day who was providing their food.
- It kept them trusting God every day.
- If they couldn’t store their food, they couldn’t put their securities in their
stored food.
- It helped them realize what they really needed. They really needed God, not
manna.
- What does this passage tell you about how God distributes His grace
?
- He doesn’t give it to us all at once. This causes us to seek Him continually.
- Quote (John Calvin, Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries): "For men have
no taste for [God’s power] till they are convinced of their need of it and they
immediately forget its value unless they are continually reminded by awareness of their
own weakness."
- God gives us just enough grace to perfectly and sufficiently meet our need.
- Quote (John Blanchard, Truth for Life: A Devotional Commentary on the Epistle of
James): "So [God]supplies perfectly measured grace to meet the needs of the
godly. For daily needs there is daily grace; for sudden needs, sudden grace; for
overwhelming need, overwhelming grace. God’s grace is given wonderfully, but not
wastefully; freely but not foolishly; bountifully but not blindly."
- He wants us to be uncertain about the "near" future, so we will trust Him. He
wants us to put our securities on the "far" future (our eternity with Him),
rather than the "near" future, which is so uncertain.
- 1 Tim 6:17. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor
to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who
richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
- The power of the provision is not in the provision itself, but in the provider. This is
evident because the manna rotted after one day. This keeps us from putting our trust in
the provision.
- Example: Have you ever seen a stray animal such as a cat near your house, which you feel
sorry for, so you decide to care for it by giving it food? So you start feeding this cat
every day, and you start to have a certain fondness for this cat. You want to care for it,
pet it, and oversee its well-being. In a way, you want this cat to come to you because it
knows that you care for it. But probably, in reality, this cat is coming to you for the
sole purpose of getting food, not because it cares for you. How does this make you feel?
In a similar way, do you see how God wants us to put our securities on Him, and not on the
things that He provides us?
- What does this passage tell you about the character of God
?
- He realizes our weaknesses, and accommodates to us. He meets us at our level.
- He is like a patient Dad, wanting His child to realize who is caring for him.
- How does this principle change your prayer life
?
- I realize that I need to go to God as often as possible and get more grace to face the
struggles and challenges of the day.
- When I don’t go to God in prayer, it’s almost like I’m settling for stale
or rotten manna (that is, my own counsel, rather than God’s). It may get me through
the day physically, but I'm not being nourished spiritually.
- I start paying more attention to the provider than the provision.
Contentment
What can we learn about contentment using these principles?
- I am discontent when I have:
- Mismatched needs:
- I am discontent when I think I need something that God knows I don’t need.
- I am complacent when I don’t think I need something that God knows I do need.
- Mismatched motivations:
- I am content when my want is for God’s glory and satisfaction. (This may cost me my
sense of comfort).
- I am not content when my want is for my glory and satisfaction.
- Solution
- We should match our perceived needs with our actual God-given needs.
- We should put God’s glory above our comfort.
- We should put God and others before ourselves.
- We should not covet.
- We should have an active hunger for God and His will.
- We should run to God for all our needs.
- Does contentment mean inactivity
?
- We find contentment when we are obeying and serving God. Job 36:11. If they obey and
serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in
contentment.
- Is it possible to be content, whatever the circumstances
?
- Phil 4:10-13. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your
concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the
circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I
have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives
me strength.
- What is the secret of contentment, according to Paul
?
- It’s the fact that God is the one who gives him his strength to be content (vs.
13).
- I think vs. 13 has been isolated from its context too much. I think Paul is making the
point that in whatever circumstances, God gives him the strength to get through it.
There is nothing that can happen to him that God’s grace cannot enable him to
be content in.
- Wrong emphasis: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"
- Right emphasis: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"
- How does the fact that we brought nothing into this world and will take nothing out of
it help me be content with what I have
?
- It helps me realize that God has given me even the most basic things in life, like food,
clothing, and a shelter.
- It also helps me realize that everything that I gain for myself that doesn’t have
eternal value is useless and will be destroyed.
- 1 Tim 6:6-8. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing
into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we
will be content with that.
- How does the fact that God has told us, "I will never leave you nor forsake
you" help us be content
?
- We are enabled to be content, because we are constantly reminded that God alone
is our portion. Since the embodiment of Gracious Sufficiency [God] promises to be with us
forever, we don’t have any reason to want anything else but Him.
- Heb 13:5-6. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you
have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can
man do to me?"
Conclusion
- "Just-In-Time" Grace
- God only gives us the grace we need, at the very moment we need it. Why?
- It forces us to trust God continually. Not just believe, but place our securities
in God.
- It forces us to trust God continually. Focus on the Provider, not the provision.
- It forces us to trust God continually. For daily needs, there is daily grace.
- It forces us to put our hope in the certain things, not the uncertain (Living Hope).
- This kind of grace tells us a lot about God’s character:
- God wants to take care of us.
- God is intimate and personal.
- God realizes our every need, and delights to meet them in a way that we realize Who is
providing for us.
- This kind of grace affects my prayer life:
- The daily availability of God’s grace motivates me to pray daily.
- My prayers are focused on the Provider, not the provision.
- Contentment
- One of the ways God provides His grace is by giving us contentment.
- We are content when our perceived needs match our actual needs.
- We are content when our motivations are for God’s glory, and not our comfort
- Contentment does not mean complacency or laziness…. He has given us a job to do.
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