Running From Grace
Today seems cloudy, not outside but internally. Exhaustion is a real thing. It’s like I want to do so much and yet I’m running from what is good, healthy and creative. I’m running from rest, pain and pruning. I’m running from the grace filled discipline that He so graciously lavishes me in, even in the times of temper tantrums and rejecting His love and goodness for me. The goodness doesn’t always feel good. Actually, typically at the onset, it feels A LOT like death. Which is kind of the point, isn’t it? To die to oneself to be made new, to allow Him to prune us so we can grow bigger, bear more fruit, and give Him more glory. So why do I inherently run away? Why do I even actively choose things that aren’t God’s best for me? This is the greatest mystery I’m facing right now, and yet the answer seems to be right in front of my face. It’s because I have to realize I can’t do it without Him. That He is the source of ALL good things. He is the Good Doctor, the Good Shepherd, the Savior, the Lover of my soul, the Alpha and the Omega, and everything in between. I keep thinking I can do it if I will myself, if I fill in the blank, but when left to my own devices… here I am, unable.
We, by ourselves, without Him, are completely and utterly insufficient.
Man, the grace He gives is absolutely mind-blowingly amazing. I praise Him for loving us, when we feel unlovable, unable, rebellious, angry, and weak. It’s in these moments that we can intimately experience His great power, and overwhelming grace.
2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”
Grace: unmerited/ undeserved divine assistance; a virtue coming from God; mercy/ pardon; a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance*
What would it look like if we stop running from the grace
He so deeply wants to freely give us?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank you for the grace and mercy you pour out on us. I pray over each person that reads this, that they can divinely encounter your grace, especially in the midst of their turmoil. God, I pray that you open their eyes to see your gracious and loving hands moving and working in their lives and in the lives around them. And finally, I pray for those that don’t know you Jesus, that through this study, seeds of faith be planted within them, to grow and mature and bring about much fruit for your kingdom. In your name Jesus I pray, amen.
Maybe you can relate, or maybe this is the first-time hearing about the grace of God, or perhaps you’re somewhere in the middle.
Action Steps:
No matter where you fall on the spectrum, I encourage you to pause wherever you are right now. Take a few minutes, put down your phone, and ask Him to fill you with His grace.
Push away any distractions that come up, especially thoughts of not feeling worthy or good enough.
Close your eyes.
Take a couple of nice deep breaths.
(Don't rush through this part) Imagine His grace being like an oil pouring over your head
and visualize it saturating each and every portion of yourself.
Just rest there.
Breathe it in.
Soak it in.
Allow it to refresh your soul.
*Definitions sourced and reworded from Merriam-Webster.com
