Sustaining Grace

February was a full month for me....emotionally full. (Thus, the reason for the gap in blog posts.) As the days marched on, I simply took each day as it came and really didn't have expectations for I knew God was at work on many fronts. Along the way I read an article on sustaining grace vs. delivering grace. It made me stop and pause...

My circumstances were not the magnitude of the author's. And really, it was not my own personal circumstances that I was experiencing, but walking with others through their pain. God has granted me the gift of empathy, but with it comes hurting when others are hurting. I would much like to "fix" it, but I am slowly learning it is God's work and not my own, thus I pray for sustaining grace for all.

“No” was not the answer I wanted. I was looking for miraculous answers to prayer, a return to normalcy, relief from the pain. I wanted the kind of grace that would deliver me from my circumstances.

God, in his mercy, offered his sustaining grace.

At first, I rejected it as insufficient. I wanted deliverance. Not sustenance. I wanted the pain to stop, not to be held up through the pain. I was just like the children of Israel who rejoiced at God’s delivering grace in the parting of the Red Sea, but complained bitterly at his sustaining grace in the provision of manna.

With every heartache I wanted a Red Sea miracle. A miracle that would astonish the world, reward me for my faithfulness, make my life glorious. I didn’t want manna.

But God knew better. This manna, this sustaining grace, is what upheld me. It revived me when I was weak. It drove me to my knees. And unlike delivering grace, which once received, inadvertently moved me to greater independence from God, sustaining grace kept me tethered to him. (Read full article here.)

As the years of my life tick by, I realize sorrow is a fixture in one's life. It is inevitable. Some experience more than others.Why is not a question that will be answered this side of heaven.
  

Ann Kiemel, who fought a valiant battle with cancer, and who just recently passed away said, “I knew I had a choice; I could make sorrow my friend or my enemy. Sorrow could make me hard and cold and bitter… or sorrow could be my best friend and teach me things I had never known before. I reached out and took sorrow’s hand…” (Focus on the Family)

God's grace will sustain us and propel us toward the important things in life...

I am melancholy in nature...a deep thinker...and it may seem I focus on the negative side of life. Maybe I do; but I prefer to see life as not "positive and negative" for God works for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28)...All things are working for our good. We live in a fallen world, but even in the midst of difficulty, He is there, and there is always something to be thankful for.

It is why I journal my blessings....for in seeing the handiwork of the Almighty God, I divert my focus from the trials of life to His goodness in my life. We are told in the book of Phillipians to "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! .... The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Rejoice.

Do not  be anxious...about ANYTHING.

With thanksgiving, pray.

God will sustain with His peace.

Difficulties, trouble, trials, and sorrow are a part of life. Do we allow them to make us cold and bitter, or do we grasp the hand of Jesus and let Him teach us things that will bring a deep growth, a deep joy. His sustaining grace is always near.....

And in the midst of our trials....there are many times He does grant deliverance. But if not, keep on...in His grace.

I am learning to lean on Him....always.



 

The Discovery of Blessings

I love reading H. Jackson Brown Jr.'s Life's Little Instruction Book(s). In his introduction to Volume II, he writes, "Life is a process. We are all works in progress--green tomatoes ripening on the windowsill of life.  As I experience more, learn more, and contemplate more, I often think of what use my discoveries might be to my son, Adam."

So, begins my journey of blogging, the discoveries that God has revealed to me. Psalm 23 in the Bible states that "His goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." God's goodness and mercy, His unrelenting grace, can be seen in the everyday and the ordinary. My goal is to chronicle what He has shown me and what I have learned. As these words hit the page, may my heart say "thank-you"....for everything. I thank you for coming along on this journey with me. May the words and thoughts that follow bless you.

I discovered Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts a little over a year ago. It will revolutionize a life. It is a book about finding the blessings that are so abundant in our every day lives. A friend challenged her to find one thousand "blessings" and write them down. Yes, write them down. She challenges her readers to do the same. I smile as I look over the entries in my "Blessings" journal....giggling, recipe for my grandmother's hotdish, stoneware mugs, calculator, a kind nurse at the clinic, scrapbook sale, warm shower, encouraging words.....and the list goes on. I have jotted over 1,600 "blessings" for 2013, and I continue to write more. Contentment (simply being thankful for what we have) is so missing in our culture today. By simply stopping, breathing, and becoming aware of the blessings in our life, we start to become aware of the goodness and mercy that God has placed in our lives. I often wonder what would happen if, when we turned on the nightly news, we only heard about the good in the world?

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies....but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings. ~Henry Ward Beecher

I am learning to be thankful.....