Skip to main content

A Thorn in Your Side

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"    2 Cor. 12:9

I stumbled upon a new phrase recently.  Perhaps you've heard it, but it was a first for me, and I immediately latched on tight to it.  This new phrase will replace my former expression of "Sandpaper People."  This new phrase can actually be used somewhat undercover because it is an acronym.  I'm not sure if you'll be as fascinated by it as I was, but here it is:

E. G. R. -- Extra Grace Required

Don't you love it?  This expression is a perfect sentiment to have come to mind when you are around someone who . . .  well, requires extra grace!

We all have someone.  I bet you even have a mental picture of someone's face that popped in your head whenever you read that phrase! 

The irony in all of this is that our focal verse comes out of the passage where Paul is telling the Corinthian church about his thorn in his flesh.  Well, haven't you used the expression before that (name of a person) is such a "thorn in your side"?  I know that I have. 

Paul tells the church that although he is afflicted with this ailment -- and we are never told exactly what it is -- that the Lord has told him on multiple occasions that He is going to give him the grace to persevere.  He is going to supply the extra grace that will be required to deal with his thorn.  The Lord told Paul that He actually thrives in times of weakness because it is then that His power is on perfect display.  

Well, my friend, the same grace that was sufficient for Paul is made available to us.  We have the ability to tap into the same power source as Paul did.  I really think that God puts those E. G. R. people in our paths sometimes to see if we're going to tap into the power that has been put at our disposal through Christ, or if we are going to rely on our own ability, which typically results in a carnal mess.

Think about this the next time you encounter your E. G. R. person(s):  Jesus is getting an opportunity to show off through you and how you respond to them! 

Paul goes on to say that because of what Christ gets to do through his weakness, He is actually glad that he has to endure his thorn.  Have you ever been truly glad to have an encounter with your "thorn"?

So, when that person crosses your path today or in the future, I truly hope that you will approach them with a whole new way of thinking.  Walk towards them thanking God that He has chosen to show off through you on that day!  Don't fake it, but rather let God's grace and His power be on display through your actions and reactions. 

Perhaps your E. G. R. is not a person, but rather a location or a situation.  Do you need an extra dose of grace when:
  • You're stuck in rush hour traffic on the way to work and you're already late?
  • You are forced to wait a lengthy amount of time for what is supposed to be "fast" food?
  • You get a call requesting a Parent - Teacher Conference?
  • You miss your morning coffee?
Take some time to thank God for giving you the opportunity to demonstrate His perfect power in whatever situation sparks your need for extra grace.  Thank God for those people whom God is using in your life to refine you and to train you to extend grace, whenever your natural response is just the opposite.  Strive to imitate and replicate Paul's attitude when he said:

"That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Cor. 12:10

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Heartfelt Reflections of a Country Church

The smells, sounds, and people of country churches stir an emotion within me that is deep and powerful. For those who have never had the opportunity to experience this blessed experience, let me explain.   From the moment you step into the vestibule (never called a foyer in a rural church), you instantly smell the footsteps of every person who has crossed that threshold - the mother with a load of kids in tow, the farmer, the truck driver, the wayward child. If those paneled walls could talk, they would tell of grace and guilt and sorrow and joy that couldn’t be hidden on the faces of the souls that dared to cross that doorway. Those walls would write books of clinched fists, tears on the altar, and singing from the saints. The smell of the aged carpet, whose color may have caused an outright quarrel in a business meeting, the creak of the floor, and the golden memorial tags lead you to a nostalgic thing of days gone by - a pew, padded if you’re lucky.   As you wait for the ob...

I love my kids, BUT. . . .

"Schoolhouse Rock" was one of mine and my husband's favorite educational past times.  Bob Dorough, writer for "Schoolhosue Rock," was a genius when he put educational factoids to quirky music and cute cartoons.  From the preamble to the Constitution, to parts of speech, multiplication facts, how electricity works, and much more, Mr. Dorough slyly disguised learning and actually made it fun! Like all good parents, we passed this educational relic on to our kids.  One of our favorite songs from "Schoolhouse Rock" is without a doubt " Conjunction Junction ."  Its jazzy rhythm easily gets stuck in your head for the rest of your day ( sorry in advance! ).  This song teaches how conjunctions mechanically work in a sentence and what their purpose is.  The conjunction 'BUT' is one that we use all the time to connect two sentences or a clause to a sentence. "I like pizza,  BUT  I don't like olives on it." "I want to...

Taking the Mask Off

If I’ve learned anything over the last few weeks of wearing masks when going out in public, it’s that wearing a mask makes it hard to breathe.   The trapped air recirculating in and out gets thick and burdensome. The same is true for the invisible mask I wear on the days that I’m trying to hide the reality of what’s going on below the surface.   There comes a point when the air that has gotten trapped between my invisible mask and my unfortunate reality gets so heavy that ripping it off and gasping for a dose of fresh, life-giving oxygen is the only remedy.   ( Cue the proverbial mask selfie that everyone has had to take during quarantine. ) I think many of us frequently wear a mask, intentionally or unintentionally, to hide the reality of what’s underneath. We mask up to present a façade. A watered-down version of the true us. A suffocating misrepresentation of our current existence.  We’re all guilty.  One of my favorite person...