Skip to main content

grace during struggle

 


There are so many things in life that we just don’t understand.  There are also lots of things that are out of our control.  Difficult times are going to come our way.  Let’s get some perspective.  


James 1:2-4  NIV  

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 


Think about and hold on to joy when the difficult times come your way.  That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.  What does make sense is that there is something or best yet someone who has everything in control when it is out of my control.  That same person knows all will be ok when those difficult times seem overwhelming.


The struggle is real.  But so is God’s Amazing Grace.  It is a must to decide before something happens how you are going to respond.  You cannot predict everything, but we can plan and do our best.  That is to lean on the one who has control and will get me through.


That is where faith comes in.  Real faith is amazing.  And real faith is resting in His amazing grace. 


We continue a series at church based upon the hymn Amazing Grace, and Sunday I focused on the third verse.


verse 3 

Through many dangers, toils and snares

We have already come

'Twas grace that brought us safe thus far

And grace will lead us home


That is only o verse of the song, but that has to be our reality.  When the tough times come, we have to have something or someone to hang on to.  And that is our God who gave us Himself.  He gave us His love and passion to care us though the most difficult times.


Matthew 11:28-30  NLT  

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”


May our lives demonstrate the truth of God’s grace.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan.  His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God.  Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st.  The book is Forgotten God .   This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into.  All of it is within the Holy Spirit.  Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people.  It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about.   And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts.  We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things.  It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share.  For me C.S. Lewis is one of those.  He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class.  It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before.  He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born.  It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian.  He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!