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In coming to the Lord in prayer, in adoration, I often praise Him for His character, for His names. Those names, so many, so all-encompassing, and yet, I come back again and again to El Shaddai, God Almighty, the all sufficient.

Today I read the following, written by Pastor Phil Johnson, and oh, I nodded in agreement. Yes, I believe wholeheartedly in the promise of Ephesians 3:20, "in Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we can ask or think." But, I also know that my mind is small. His sufficiency is abundance in itself. Do I dare pray that I would be an even larger vessel for His grace?

I know of several struggling, struggling with relationships or with circumstance or with change or with physical ailments and disabilities, and I confess, I sometimes think, "now Lord? Is this yet enough?" Yet we can always be sure that HE is enough. His grace is sufficient for me. For them. For you. I hope this is a reminder and an encouragement.

When Elijah arrived, that woman and her little boy were on the verge of starvation. She was gathering a few sticks for fuel for what she was convinced would be the last meal she and her son would have before they died. But God graciously provided for the needs of that widow, her son, and Elijah for many weeks after that—not by giving them an overflow of abundance, but by miraculously providing a new handful of flour and a small portion of oil each day, so that their supplies, while never in surplus, were always sufficient for their daily needs.

That is a perfect picture of how God normally dispenses His grace. He gives us sufficient grace without giving us a surplus of grace. "His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is [His] faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23). "He giveth more grace" (James 4:6)—but He dispenses His grace in accord with our present needs—often in handfuls and small measures, and rarely in superabundant portions. But the grace He gives is always sufficient.

Furthermore, sometimes, when God does want to lavish grace upon us in superabundant measure, the prelude to that is a dark and difficult turn of providence. Suffering is the pathway to glory. Hardship is the container into which God pours His grace. The larger the vessel, the greater the measure of grace.