A Fresh Perspective - January 30, 2009
In a little book entitled "Making the Best of Stress" author Mark McMinn tells about a summer afternoon his family went out for a picnic at a nearby state park. They played some games in a large, grassy field. For one game they all lay down on their backs to see who could hold their legs in the air the longest. Six year old Megan won the contest twice. When he asked her how she managed to hold her legs up so long she replied: "It was easy once I figured out it was okay to hurt."
The Apostle Paul discovered that not only was it okay to hurt, but that his "hurt" enabled him to experience the grace of God in a dynamic way. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul mentions how he was plagued by a "thorn in the flesh" which he calls a "messenger of Satan, to torment me."
Various theories have been postulated as to what this was: malaria, a speech impediment, migraines, epilepsy, bouts of depression, etc.; no one knows. Three times he pleaded with God to remove it because it was interfering with his work and hindering his ministry. The answer he received was: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
I certainly do not believe that God causes or sends hardships and struggles into our lives; but I do believe that every trial and tragedy, every disappointment and difficulty, constitute an opportunity to experience the sufficiency of God's grace.
God's grace is God's every day, every hour, every minute liberating, healing, sustaining power that is most fully at work in us when we are weak, when we are up against it and have come to the end of our rope.
Paul says: "This 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" (see 2 Cor. 12:1-10). For more on this see my sermon, "A Gospel Paradox," on our website listed below.
Community Need: The Women's Shelter is in need of bus passes for the women in residence. These can be purchased at City Hall.
Chuck