Candy Grace

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 

 We were given a bunch of chocolate candy. Neither my husband nor I eat it. He had one idea of what to do with it, but I had another. I begged him not to give it away, because I wanted to use it on thank you notes to the staff in the Veteran's Home where my dad resides. 

It was the next day that I found him putting the candy into little boxes to give away to people. I found myself getting very agitated, because it felt as if he had disregarded my request to give it to the Veteran's Home Staff. I was about to say some angry things and said more than I am proud of, when I asked God for "Candy Grace." I was wanting Christ to give me grace in this situation with the candy, so that I would be more gracious toward him and didn't say angry things to my husband.

Shortly after that, I felt much calmer and talked with my husband about it. He had forgotten the conversation we had earlier about the candy. Additionally, I realized there was probably enough candy for him to give to the people he wanted and I would still have enough to do what I wanted. When I get frustrated, I don't always think as clearly through these things as I would hope. Fortunately for me, Christ allowed for me to be more gracious than my original words and to have better insight on this matter. I am truly blessed for a Lord that looks after me even when I want to blurt things out!!! 

Example of a Brief Prayer

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Acts 15:11

I was with someone who was scooping up some free popcorn. They didn't ask me if I wanted any. The person told me that I should get a bag of popcorn and then took it from my hands. They wanted me to get the popcorn for them to eat later.

It's such a silly thing, but it really did irritate me. Didn't that person think about whether I wanted some or not? Couldn't they have asked me if I wanted some before they took it from my hands? I found myself getting frustrated at that person. Then, it popped into my mind that that's not what Christ wants of me. He wants me to be gracious to those who irritate me, but I was too frustrated to be gracious at that moment.

What I prayed was, "Popcorn Grace," and immediately Christ calmed me down, so that I didn't respond to the person in a less than positive manner. Although the "Popcorn Grace" prayer was very brief, I was asking Christ to please give me grace with this popcorn situation, so I would respond in a gracious manner, and He did! It amazed me that He knew and understood my brief prayer and granted me that grace, so I could be more gracious as an example of how He works in my life! I have continued to use these brief prayers which are changing my life and my response to others. If Christ can do this for me, He can most certainly do it for you, as well. Try it...what can it hurt?