Grace Turns The Hard Heart Soft

by Eric Elkin

“…then [God] told me, ‘My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”

— 2 Corinthians 12:9

“This is the song that never ends….” Do I need to write more? These seven words will always get a response. Most people groan, fearful the song will get stuck in their own heads. If someone starts singing it, the song will definitely be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Sheri Lewis, a long-forgotten television star, used the song to end her children’s show. Her puppets would start singing the song. Lewis would try in desperation to get them to stop. But no one really knows where it began. Then again, that is the problem with the song. No one knows how it starts or when it stops.

One summer, a counselor intentionally tried to drive the entire staff crazy by singing “The Beaver Song,” over and over again. No one could stop him from starting the song. And, children automatically started singing as soon as they heard it.

“The Beaver Song” initiative was funny at first. Then it became irritating. When the counselor did not stop or slow down after the irritating stage, its humor had a second life. Eventually, the song produced pure anger among staff and campers. A rule was formed to ban its singing. The rule had limited success.

“C. S. Lewis observed that almost all crimes of Christian history have come about when religion is confused with politics. Politics, which always runs by the rules of ungrace, allures us to trade away grace for power, a temptation the church has often been unable to resist.”

— Philip Yancey

Last week I listened to an update on the war in Syria. For some reason, it reminded me of an irritating children’s song that no one can stop singing. I doubt anyone thought a war would begin or that it would last this long when Syrians first started protesting in 2011.

Since 2011, over 500,000 people have died. Whole cities have been destroyed. So many other countries joined in on the song of violence; few can clearly determine the sides of the conflict. Still, like an irritating children’s song, the war rages on.

Sadly, this is just one battle in a world full of conflict. The seed of discord is hatred, and the fertilizer is the desire for retribution. Paul’s conflict in 2 Corinthians was not a dire as the war in Syria. However, the elements leading to war are all there. He writes that he was given a “handicap” (The Message), in other versions, “a thorn.” The source of the affliction is satan.

The afflictions lead Paul to remember what God had told him, “My grace is enough.” Grace seems like such a weak tool to counter the impact of bullets and chemical weapons. Yet, for any war to stop, eventually, anger needs to give way to grace.

I’m not sure what is going on in your life this day. Perhaps, though, it would do you well to remember God’s grace is enough. An encounter with this gift can turn an angry, hard heart into one that beats with a soft rhythm of peace.

Click to read 2 Corinthians 12: 2-10