Polka-Dotted Grace
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a
little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” 1 Peter 1:6
“A rose is rose by
any other name” and we’d probably all agree.
But having a penchant for the obvious, I would have to say, “A thorn
is a thorn by any other name” as well.
Call them what you will, but they always have the same effect.
Peter saw them as
“sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:9) Asaph
referred to them as “burdens.” (Psalm
73:5) James? He likes to use the word “trials.” (James 1:2) John would transpose them as
“afflictions.” (Revelation 2:9) And Paul…like a veteran umpire just called
‘em as he saw ‘em. They was just plain
ol’ “thorns” to him. (2 Corinthians
12:7)
Those circumstances
and challenges of life that steal the prize out of our proverbial cereal boxes
and make our Top “Bad Hair Day” List. Everything from devastating hits to
modest irritations, we’ve all been there at one time or another…wondering “What
in the world would come out of this?”
Considering some of
the sometimes awfully amusing evidence:
-In 1992, Franks Perkins of Los
Angeles made an attempt on the world flagpole sitting
record. Suffering from the flu
he came down eight hours short of the 400-day record. His sponsor had gone bust, his girlfriend had
left him and his phone and electricity had been cut off.
-The Iraqi terrorist,
Khay Rahnajet, didn’t pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with “return to sender” stamped
on it. Forgetting it was the bomb,
he opened it and was blown to bits.
-But the best came when a woman came home to find her husband in the
kitchen, shaking frantically with what looked like a wire running from his
waist toward the electric kettle.
Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with
a handy plank of wood by the back door, breaking his arm in two places. Till that moment, he had been happily
listening to his “music device.”
Whether they are
self-inflicted, nature-inflicted, God-inflicted, others-inflicted, or enemy
inflicted isn’t so much the point.
We can become so preoccupied through asking the “Why’s” and “Who’s” and
“Where’s” and “When’s” and “How’s” that we completely lose track of the
“What’s.” While these ideas have merit
when it comes to alleviating more gasoline being thrown on the fire, the secret
of success of passing the test of life’s trials comes through seeing what God
can do in using that experience to bring us closer to Him.
Maybe it’s the
diagnosis of cancer, a closed vocational door, a runaway child, a failing
marriage, a dwindling business, an obstinate co-worker or an asphyxiating
financial circumstance. God wants us
to ask, “Lord, what are you working in me through this trial?”
In 1 Peter 1:6,7,
the aging Apostle writes, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of
greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be
proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed.” The word “all kinds”
means “multi-faceted” or “various.” Its
original root meant “poiki-loi,” “polka-dotted” or “colorfully striped” as is
used in Joseph’s coat.
But we are reminded
for every polka-dotted or colorfully striped trial, there is a polka-dotted and
colorfully striped grace to carry us through.
(2 Corinthians 12:9) No “if’s,”
“and’s,” or “but’s” about it. And
spiritually speaking, it doesn’t hurt to keep your “music device” at a good
volume just in case someone sneaks up behind you.
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1)
What is the biggest trial you have faced
this year?
2)
How did you experience God’s grace in it?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
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