Growing Pains

My wisdom teeth started to come in at least 3 years ago, and every once in a while I will bite the very back inside of my cheek. It usually hurts the first time, and then swells up so that i bite it repeatedly, each time hurting a little more, drawing a tear in the corner of my eye. Beyond the physical pain is the fact that I now have to focus on something i usually don't focus on; talking. I have to try extra hard to not bite that spot in my mouth, or make a ridiculous face by puffing out my cheeks so that my teeth wont touch the sides of my mouth, both strategies cause me to talk like droopy. I was reading in 2 Corinthians about Paul's pleading with God three times to remove a thorn from his side. God's answered with "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." It is understandable that Paul would consider this thorn a hindrance to a wider or more effective ministry and that he would ask God for its removal. But God's power is and always has been best displayed against the backdrop of human weakness, so that God alone is praised. Rather than removing the problem, God gave him grace and strength through it, and He declared that grace as “sufficient.” Perhaps this thorn in my mouth is here to help me practice humility, something I am not great at.