January 22nd 2012

Do you ever feel inadequate?  Do you wish you were more beautiful, healthier or perhaps  you have a really grievous problem?  St. Paul would have understood how you feel. He  too had a grievous problem with which he had to deal.  He called it his “thorn in the  flesh”.  Down the centuries, we have speculated on what it might have been.  The fact that we have  never come up with an answer perhaps helps us to relate a little more with him.

As Christians, we all want to accomplish things for our God but we feel so inadequate, so lacking in  skills perhaps even suffering pain or physical restriction.  Paul received one simple answer.   “My  grace is sufficient for you”.  What does “grace” mean?  It is a short one syllable word which in the  dictionary includes a number of meanings including a person’s demeanour, the way to address an  archbishop or a duke to a grace and favour house.   The latter gets closer to the real meaning we are  looking for - either a house or apartment put at the disposal of worthy people by the Queen.   God’s  grace comes to us absolutely free too.  Our problem is do we know how to accept his free gift, his  grace.  We want to worthy be on our own.  God’s grace brings not only strength but love. Then we  have the job of not just basking in that grace but being enlightened by it so that we may move  forward in his name, not our own name.   “Whenever I am weak, then I am strong” St. Paul said it  himself (2 Corinthians 12: 10 b)

It seems that God deals with me by just dropping some project in my lap and saying “I am giving  this for you to do”.  When this happens in your life, pick up the project, nourish it, pray over it, and  strive for it.  God’s grace will up hold and nourish you in Jesus’ name.