Special Grace
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”
2 Cor 9:7-9 NIV
Often, I am my own worst enemy, my worst accuser. I feel that I should be doing or should have done more for the Kingdom of God. I read the biographies of the great saints who have served the Lord and measure my life by theirs. Inevitably, I come up short every time. However, the Lord admonishes me not to be like the Corinthian congregation, “comparing themselves among themselves” (2 Cor. 10:12, NASU). I must remember that God has given me specific grace (1 Cor. 15: 10) to pastor, to preach, to work, to serve, to love in my particular parish with these special people.
I have not the grace of George Mueller, to build orphan houses, and receive by faith all his orphans; I have not the grace of Hudson Taylor, nor the grace of a simple housekeeper, a woman, or girl, to manage her ministry rightly; I have just the grace, the special grace, for the ministry which is committed to me. There is no member of the body, no one saved one introduced by God’s grace into that wonderful mysterious organism, the body of Christ, who has not received, besides the general grace, a special gift of grace for a special ministry in the body. Each member has his (or her) own grace.
Otto Stockmeyer, “The Sufficiency of Grace” in Daily Thoughts from Keswick: A Year’s Daily Readings (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980), 110.