Spiritual Sandpaper

Have you ever had a person that is hard to love??? I mean almost down right impossible. They remind me of a huge thorn poking me right where I can't get to it. Bart relates this to having a cuckelbur stuck in his leg hair. Praise God for no leg hair! I often just don't know what to do about this type of person. I pray and pray and often they just don't change. In this case I begin to see if it is me who needs to change and not them. In this instance however, it is an issue with the persons meanness. Have you ever had to deal with a mean person weekly with no way out of it? A mean person who either thinks they are justified or don't see themselves as being mean. Let me tell you it isn't easy to remain blameless before the eyes of the Lord. I am a very sensitive person. I still tend to get my feelings hurt easier than I wish. After becoming a pastors wife when Bart surrendered to the ministry in 2004 I learned to have a little bit thicker skin. You just have to in any ministry position. I still don't have the water off a ducks back down just yet.

I have a dear friend of almost 13 years who once told me about a co-worker that often God uses people like this as a sort of spiritual sand paper. It helps us to smooth out our bumps and burrs that come from being fleshly. We all have things that we wish would go away and make our lives a little easier. For some it is a person or people, for some it is an illness, and for others a situation of life. The list could go on. For Paul, he called it his thorn in the flesh. He prayed and prayed for it to go away, but the Lord in His wisdom would not remove it.

The Word says this in 2 Cor. 12: 7-10 :
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

God's grace is sufficient for me. Wow. His matchless grace that we sing hymns about is enough. It fills the need we have. It is sufficient. The salve for our wounds, if we let it be that. The Lord told Paul that power is perfected in weakness. Think on that one a while. Power perfected in weakness was modeled by Christ Himself. I prefer to think of it as meekness. Do we have the power to dish out what the other person is giving us. Yes. Can we be just as mean and hurtful to get the point across for them to see their error? Yes. However, can we, like Christ show perfected power in weakness? I think we must in a case like this. Who doesn't want the power of Christ to dwell in them? The key comes at the end of Paul's statement. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. We must learn to be content with the cuckelburrs, sandpaper, and thorns of life. Never forget that when we appear weak to others as Christ did on the day He have his life for you, that we are truly strong in Him.

May you see your sandpaper in a new light today, and remember our strength comes from our weaknesses. We can truly do all things through Christ who gives us His strenght.