I've read and discussed II Corinthians 12:7-9 many times but confess that at times I just don't understand "WHY". Recently, one of my former CASA boys lost his mother. This young man was already angry with God because about two years ago "God let my grandmother die". He lived with her and loved her deeply. He would not allow me to have a prayer with him. His foster grandfather says his mother's death has driven him further away from God.
 
We all have been through the experiences Max describes in the second paragraph. These are not the times to abandon God but a time to hold on tightly to His grace even if you are like me and sometimes just don't understand.

 
MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT -  Max Lucado's Daily Devotion

Paul wrote, “There was given me a thorn in my flesh, from Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

The cancer in the body. The sorrow in the heart. The child in the rehab center. The craving for whiskey in the middle of the day. The tears in the middle of the night. The thorn in the flesh. “Take it away!” you’ve pleaded. Not once, twice, or even three times. You’ve out-prayed the apostle Paul, and you’re about to hit the wall. But what you hear Jesus say is this: “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Sustaining grace. Grace that meets us at our point of need and equips us with courage and wisdom and strength. Sustaining grace. It doesn’t promise the absence of struggle, but it does promise the presence of God.