Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Corinthians 12:8-9a ESV

Ironically, while I was feeling terrific, heading into Easter weekend I wrote a post about God’s Selah and rest. That all sounded great to my ears when I clicked on publish, and we hurried on with our plans to celebrate Easter. It is amazing what a difference just a few days have made! On Monday evening Nancy and I both starting feeling poorly, but we shrugged it off as being just another virus. Though we didn’t have much of a fever we became incredibly weak, and Nancy almost took a tumble in the living room. (Fortunately, she only ended up sitting down suddenly on the couch!) So, by this morning we had the sneaking suspicion it might be Covid, and sure enough our test kits confirmed it (Not a yippee moment!) For those wondering about it, I of course immediately called our doctor. Our unrelenting weakness has driven us to ask for healing and strength, every time we pray, but so far it feels more like we are stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits than camping on a mountaintop with Jesus. This has given me new appreciation for Paul’s insistent triple prayer for his thorn to be removed. Yet in spite of Paul’s faithfulness, God not only did not remove the thorn, He also didn’t even give Paul an answer till HIs third prayer. The passage tells us that God did this to keep Paul humble, but I believe He also did it for the rest of us in our weaknesses. We learn here that Paul was not just some special Saint, with a halo hovering over his head, but he was also a perfect example of God’s grace in weakness and an encouragement to those of us who are walking the same path.