Soon this raking is a pleasure. Praise flows in a steady stream. There’s so much to thank the Lord for. I’m happy, overjoyed to be here–in this normally full-of-life place on a day when it’s quiet enough to think about the blessings the Lord brings.
I don’t want to think of my fear in terms that it may really occur. And I have every hope that it won’t. But I also know that we are not promised a life free of struggles. In fact, Jesus said that we’d have them.
A little boy’s anger toward his brother gives way as he learns to serve.
In this place, when our hearts are turned heavenward and our eyes are fully fixed on Him, there is no room for worry. It pales in His power.
Because of Jesus’ victory, I can claim Resurrection power. In Him, there is power over sin. Power over fear. Power over any form of darkness that would come against me. His power will bring strength to my life as a gift of grace.
I feel, as I move through motherhood, that I’m honoring God when I’m most true to who He made me to be. He gave us His Word as a moral perimeter for our well-being. But within that loving fence, there is room to move. To stretch. To be free.
As children of the Lord, we are welcome to approach Him with our shortcomings–and not just for comfort when we don’t perform as well as we’d like or when we make an innocent mistake. He longs for us to come to Him with our tough stuff. Our willful trespasses. Our unloveliness. Our rebellion. Our all-out sin.
Winter passes. New life breaks the barren and presses through. We’re children of the Lord. We have hope because in Him, struggle will not last forever. Whether it ends in this life or when we’ll exist in the endless realm of eternity with the Lord, winter will pass.
He binds and bandages the brokenness of my spirit. He stitches the seams of my soul. He takes what’s been torn and holds it together, until in His mercy and grace, I am healed.
Refreshment–it’s the sweet blessing we receive when we reach into the needs of others with God’s kind of love and care.
He sees my grit. He sees my grime. And He washes me with mercy ‘til the water runs clean with grace.
Good grades, when braces come off, birthdays and basketball games–but most of all, the grace of God.
