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Although many people live pleasant lives most of the time, no one gets all the way to the end of life without having to deal with its “rough edges” somewhere along the way. When faced with difficult situations, it can be hard to keep from giving in to despair. The gospel of Christ, however, meets the suffering and sorrow of the world with a message of hope.  The gospel is a message of hope because it’s a message of help. The writer of Hebrews said, “15  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16  Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Sin has not only alienated us from God, but the effects of sin have also pervaded the world God created so that hardship and heartache are never very far away. Theoretically, God could snap His fingers and put the world back the way it was. Like an indulgent parent, He could arbitrarily shield us from the earthly consequences of sin. We can be thankful, though, that He hasn’t dealt so superficially with the symptoms of the problem. He chose to deal radically with the problem itself at the cross.

Those who are willing to accept the solution God has worked out have the hope of a future life where all will be made right. Until then, we remain in a world ravaged by the mistakes that others, and also that we ourselves, continue to make. God hasn’t promised that those who have been saved from sin will have no further hardships in this world. Instead, he has made it possible for us to “find grace to help in time of need.”

Paul wrote that he had learned an important truth concerning the grace of God. Concerning his “thorn in the flesh,” he said that he had appealed to the Lord three times for it to be taken away. But God’s answer was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s grace is sufficient! Do we really believe that? Have we come to terms with the fact that God’s grace can sustain us through the loss of anything else? Do we accept the truth that, if we lost everything else, God’s goodness would be enough for us?

It may be, as has often been said, that we don’t learn God is all we need until God is all we have. The abundance of so many other blessings often deludes us into thinking we have to have those things. But we don’t. There isn’t one thing, other than God, that we can’t do without. In fact, if being stripped of lesser blessings is what it takes to teach us that is all we need, then we ought to be thankful for such deprivations.

As recipients of God’s grace, we can surely be thankful for the sufficiency of God’s help. But it’s important to remember that it’s in Christ that this help is available. Those who are unwilling to accept the gospel’s solution to the guilt of sin are ineligible to pray for help with the effects of sin, whether our own or the consequences of other’s sins. If we remain on the outside looking in with regard to the redemption that is found in Christ, then we stand outside the realm where the only help is available that will mean anything in the long run.

Christ has lived in this world, and He can sympathize with our plight. In Him there is grace to help in time of need. That grace is all we’ll ever truly need. But we can’t despise the source of the help without forfeiting the help itself. “1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1). It is our sins that cut us off from God’s help, often in the hour of our most desperate need. That’s something we need to think about before trouble arises.