Today I am struck with the dichotomous nature of life. As I ponder the meaning of this day in my own life, I'm taken back 28 years. I was excited beyond belief. I couldn't wait until this afternoon. I was going to meet my fiance at the airport. We were getting married on Saturday. What a day! Breathless excitement ... infectious anticipation ... and yes, a sprinkling of anxiety. I was starting a brand new adventure!
Fast forward 15 years. Same day. Different experiences. I found myself sitting by the bedside of the same person. He had been unconscious for 2 days. Each breath became more labored. The apnea increased. I waited longer each time for him to draw the next breath. Then, at 10am, he did it. He broke free from the fetters of a sick and dying body, to be given a life that each of us who accept Christ's gift can only dream of ... he met his Savior face-to-face. While the rejoicing began anew in the heavenlies, my grief intensified in the temporal.
As I reflect on the adventure that we experience in this life, thankfully, there is one constant. There is a very personal God Who walks beside us each and every step of the way. He was there in 1982 to rejoice with me and usher me down the aisle of my new adventure, and He was there in 1997, beside me in my bedroom, holding me up as my heart was audibly breaking.
That's the beauty of a life following Christ. I believe we ALL experience life circumstances that run the gamut. We have moments of inexpressible joy as well as seasons of heartbreak and paralyzing grief, no matter who we are or what we profess. The difference? The Savior. We never experience any of life alone if we allow Him to walk with us. His word reminds us that He is our El Shaddai ... THE All-Sufficient One. There isn't a need we have that He can't fill. There isn't an emotion we experience that He isn't there to share. There isn't a circumstance we encounter that He doesn't have what we need to either enjoy it to its fullest, or endure its deepest valley.
Are you pondering your life as you read this? What has He shown you in your most dichotomous times? How has He revealed Himself to you in each of the seasons of your life? Oh, how He desires to walk this life with you. How deeply He loves you. How closely He wants to keep you. Perhaps this day is the day you renew your adventure with the Savior!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Courageous Grace
I wonder if you ever feel discouraged. I know I do. And it seems a bit strange I suppose, but I am often most discouraged about myself when I encounter those who seem to be accomplished. The very people who should be an encouragement, are often the standard that skews my own perspective. You know, those people who seem to be perfect wives and mothers ... those who are successful in their chosen vocation ... those who seem to "have it all together."
I think the enemy takes great delight in feeding our human nature that seeks to compete. And exactly what are we competing with? Is it really others who are to set the standard for our own self-worth? What would God say about our pity-party as we allow our spirits to be down-cast when we feel as though we don't measure up?
I'm learning a lot about grace these days. I'm not one who is very good at grace ... at either end ... giving or receiving. I'm much more about truth and justice. But as I read more about Jesus, and as I allow Him to walk this life beside me, I'm learning more and more that He is all about grace. Oh, He's all about truth too, but the truth seems to be evident in the hearts of those to whom He extends grace. In other words, it is His grace, which reveals the truth we carry in our own hearts. If He is my example, then perhaps I, too, should be more about grace and let the truth do its own convicting. Somewhere we've gotten the idea that grace is something we earn ... something for which we can obtain worthiness. Grace, by definition is in fact, just the opposite. It is the unmerited favor of God. Nothing any of us do can make us worthy of receiving unconditional grace from a completely Holy God. He extends grace to us simply because we are His and He loves us, faults and all.
Imagine the freedom we would experience if we could really live a grace-centered life. A life where we allowed ourselves to live in the grace that God extends to us.
"And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 reminds us that Christ embodied all that is grace and all that is truth. However, as He walked the earth and encountered the sinner, I don't hear words of condemnation pouring forth from His lips. He speaks a language of grace, yet the truth in the heart of the sinner brings conviction and repentance.
As you walk along your path today, I'm wondering if you've allowed the enemy to speak words of judgement and condemnation into your heart. Yes, we are sinful. Yes, Christ desires that we see our sin, ask forgiveness and turn away to walk in the Light. Yet so often, we get stuck in our own cycle of self-condemnation. Today, allow yourself to be set free to hear the voice of Grace in your life. Christ didn't come to condemn but to save. He didn't come to burden us with the law, but to set us free in His love. Allow His grace to be your freedom today. Ask Him to allow you to see not only yourself, but others as well through His Eyes of Grace.
Be Blessed!
I think the enemy takes great delight in feeding our human nature that seeks to compete. And exactly what are we competing with? Is it really others who are to set the standard for our own self-worth? What would God say about our pity-party as we allow our spirits to be down-cast when we feel as though we don't measure up?
I'm learning a lot about grace these days. I'm not one who is very good at grace ... at either end ... giving or receiving. I'm much more about truth and justice. But as I read more about Jesus, and as I allow Him to walk this life beside me, I'm learning more and more that He is all about grace. Oh, He's all about truth too, but the truth seems to be evident in the hearts of those to whom He extends grace. In other words, it is His grace, which reveals the truth we carry in our own hearts. If He is my example, then perhaps I, too, should be more about grace and let the truth do its own convicting. Somewhere we've gotten the idea that grace is something we earn ... something for which we can obtain worthiness. Grace, by definition is in fact, just the opposite. It is the unmerited favor of God. Nothing any of us do can make us worthy of receiving unconditional grace from a completely Holy God. He extends grace to us simply because we are His and He loves us, faults and all.
Imagine the freedom we would experience if we could really live a grace-centered life. A life where we allowed ourselves to live in the grace that God extends to us.
"And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 reminds us that Christ embodied all that is grace and all that is truth. However, as He walked the earth and encountered the sinner, I don't hear words of condemnation pouring forth from His lips. He speaks a language of grace, yet the truth in the heart of the sinner brings conviction and repentance.
As you walk along your path today, I'm wondering if you've allowed the enemy to speak words of judgement and condemnation into your heart. Yes, we are sinful. Yes, Christ desires that we see our sin, ask forgiveness and turn away to walk in the Light. Yet so often, we get stuck in our own cycle of self-condemnation. Today, allow yourself to be set free to hear the voice of Grace in your life. Christ didn't come to condemn but to save. He didn't come to burden us with the law, but to set us free in His love. Allow His grace to be your freedom today. Ask Him to allow you to see not only yourself, but others as well through His Eyes of Grace.
Be Blessed!
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