Let me give you a bit of back story to put this pivotal episode in my life in perspective. As a young boy I was found to have severe allergies. It seemed to me that I was allergic to more things than I was not allergic to. One of those allergies was to milk.
I couldn’t drink milk, and instead I had to take calcium pills. Chalky, yucky, calcium pills. No milk. No real ice cream. Not fun for a seven year old.
A by-product of my condition was that the lack of calcium caused my teeth not to develop a proper layer of enamel on them. This made my teeth very susceptible to cavities. Brush as I may, the cavity creeps were successful in performing their mantra of
“We make holes in teeth” in my mouth.
My first dentist was an older gentleman who was also my father’s dentist. He was a gruff fellow who still wore the headband with the mirror attached, and he smelled of cigar smoke. I always found it interesting that I would get a lecture from him about my unhealthy penchant for Jolly Ranchers and Tootsie Pops, yet he obviously smoked. I had the presence of mind never to bring up that perceived disparity to him while I was in his dentist chair. Even at seven I was practicing some portion of wisdom and self-preservation.
On one visit a cavity was found that would require a filling. Not to worry, he advised that he could take care of that while my dad waited in the reception room. As my dad sat in that front room reading a magazine, my dentist proceeded to probe, drill, and fill. What he had neglected to do was give me a shot of Novocain or any other numbing agent first. You’re reading this right, as a seven year old I got my first filling ‘au naturel’. I felt the whole thing, smelled the whole thing, and made lots of noise through the whole thing. Needless to say, from that moment forward I had a distrust for dentists and a severe aversion to getting in the dental chair.
Some years later I watched Dustin Hoffman in the movie, “The Marathon Man,” and as I watched him being tortured in a dental chair, I sat there thinking, “I feel for you, Dustin; I feel for you.”
Over the years necessity has put me into that chair many times, with each experience better than that first one, but still dreaded nonetheless. In my early thirties I got the news that I had hoped never to hear—I was in need of a root canal. It wasn’t something I could ignore, as it would soon be an abscess. Reluctantly I agreed, and the appointment was made.
My Time in the Chair
The day came to go see the dentist, and my wife did her best to encourage me as I headed to my date with pain. As I arrived, I was taken to one of the back rooms where they seated me and prepped me for the procedure. I laid back in the chair and watched as the dentist came in. He was an older gentleman who assured me not to be concerned, because he had been doing the procedure for thirty years and would take good care of me. “Would you like something to take the edge off?” he asked me. “Yes, please,” I replied. I was thinking, “Give me whatever you can to get me through this!”
As I lay there looking up, I silently started to pray. I was very nervous and anticipated a lot of discomfort and pain. It was then that I heard a voice on the inside of me say something that surprised me . . .
“There’s a grace available for this.”
I thought, “A grace available for this root canal? Huh?”
“Yes, a grace is available for this. You only need to access it.”
I laid there dumbfounded. Grace was available to help me get through this root canal. I knew I needed help, and God had made grace available to me right then, right there. I laid there and said, “Lord, I take the grace You’ve made available for me in this time, and I thank You for it.”
The dentist soon came back in and performed the procedure. I had no apprehension, no fear, and, to my surprise, there had been little given to me to mellow me out. I left the office with a completed root canal and went home for the day. I only had to take two Tylenol afterwards to handle the pain. I had made it through a seemingly terrible event with little adverse effects. More importantly, grace was no longer some wispy thing that floated in the air and might rest on you from time to time. Grace had become personal to me. God knew what I would be going through on that day and had made His grace available to me to get me through it.
God’s Grace Is Available to You
As we discuss God’s grace, I am aware that there are different facets and discussions regarding the subject. In the context of our discussion, we are addressing God’s personal involvement to reach into our lives and to help us in areas where we are inadequate in our own strength. God’s grace is made available to you and me by His love for us and His desire to be intimately involved in our lives. You could define this grace as God’s presence and power made available to us in a situation on our behalf to do what we are unable to do on our own. The beauty of this is that it isn’t some random occurrence in our lives.
There is no wheel of chance that is spinning up in heaven that might land on your name, and you get the pleasure of God’s grace for that day. God’s grace is available to you and me because of this; He has looked down the entirety of our lives and has seen each situation we will face. In doing this, He has also deposited His grace—His presence and power made available to us in a situation on our behalf to do what we are unable to do on our own—in those situations so that it is available to us to help us handle the situation and come out on the other side stronger. It’s personal to you and me.
He knew that I would lose my mother when I was twelve years old, and He made His grace available to me throughout the following years to help me deal with the loss and her absence. He knew that I would be a single dad who was struggling to make sense of things, and He made His grace available to me to guide me and teach me. He knew I would be working for a company that would go bankrupt (Thanks, Worldcom), and His grace was available to preserve my position through seven layoffs and provide me with a telecommunications job in my same city when, supposedly, there weren’t any available. He knew that at forty-three I would be diagnosed with latter stage cancer, and His grace was there to see me and my family through the treatment, financial strain, and the miraculous healing I received. There was many a day when I would lay in my bed during those hard days, weak and tired, and I would think about that day in the chair waiting to begin that root canal. I would remember that there was a grace that He had set aside for me, and I would draw on that grace to get me through the day.
Yes, His grace was and is personal to me. It’s not a wisp that floats by and seeps through your fingers. It’s His indelible touch, the hand on your shoulder, the pat on your back that lets you know you’re not alone. This grace is sufficient. Paul discovered that. I discovered it. So can you.
God’s desire is to be intimately involved in your life, and He has made His grace available to you. He looked down the corridors of time and placed His grace – His presence and power made available to you in a situation on your behalf to do what you are unable to do on your own – in your life to help carry you not only survive, but thrive. God’s thoughts for you are to peace for today and hope for tomorrow, and He has given His grace to you to make it a reality.
