There have been many situations/events in my life that many would consider 'serious' as far as the implications of the outcome, but God delivered me so much peace, those times almost seemed simple.
Or for instance, it has never been a question for me to wonder if God exists. This is something my heart has always known. More recently, I've opened my eyes to see that not only is God real, but he is really involved in every moment of my life and I want him to be in control. And fundamentally I do not question this either.
These are graces God has bestowed on me. I realize, not everyone sees God for who he is without questioning his existence and his majesty and the fact that he will reign sovereign to the end, when heaven is made new on earth.
I realize not everyone is blessed with the faith and trust in God that I have been given. God tells us it is time for my husband to quite his FT job - our major source of income. My response was simply - okay. God allows a deer to total our car, our only car. My response was simply - okay, I know he'll make it right. God says it's time to take on a car payment again and buy a truck for the landscaping business. My response is simply - okay, I know he'll provide for it. God says he'll provide for us, making a living on two small businesses, both dependent on having clients, both with seasons of ebb and flow. My response is simply - okay, I know he will provide.
This should not be mistaken as a careless, lazy or 'hand-it-to-me' type of attitude. There is a difference in trusting God enough to allow him to be in control and simply sitting back and expecting God to hand the riches down to you. The biggest difference in the two attitudes is your heart.
And he knows your heart, what's really on the inside. He knows if you are trusting his sovereignty or if you are mocking him. And people around you who do trust God know the difference as well, they can see it in how you live your life. And if you don't trust God to the degree that you allow him to have control and you see someone who claims to trust God and it appears they're just sitting back and everything somehow is going well for them... well then maybe you're missing the boat!
The boat called G R A C E.
Grace is the daily miracle that 99% of the time is overlooked. God works all things by his grace, all things. Know this, as sinners, we deserve not one ounce of the life we live. It's God's grace that let's us wake up with breath in our lungs. It's his grace that puts food in our mouths, his grace that gives us a shower to use, clothes to cover us, a car to transport us, a ski show to entertain us, a church building to worship in, a sun to light our days even when it's stormy. It's his grace that's allowed you to have the job you have which provides a paycheck and maybe even health insurance, his grace that affords you the wisdom and knowledge you need to do that job, his grace that has given you the spouse that you love and that loves you. It's also his grace that brings you hardship, because by these hardships he's challenging us to grow and learn - just as we challenge our kids to grow and learn through discipline. He loves us, perpetual sinners, so much that he wants us to grow to be more like him and the only way we simple-minded humans can learn to be more like him is by messing up or facing hardships and coming through them as he designed, by his grace.
Every moment of every day can be considered a miracle of God's grace - but that's an attitude you have to chose.
The other side of it - well it's GREED.
Thinking you deserve the car you have or maybe even a better one, you deserve a raise in pay (telling God what he does pay you is not good enough), you deserve a vacation, you deserve to have more 'toys' or electronics or the latest iPhone or iPod or laptop or the biggest flat screen out there or a summer house on the lake or in another state, or that you deserve more attention at your job or in your family, you deserve to have better food in your fridge or more time to yourself or more money to spend on yourself or more money so that you can go out more often....
Need I go on? The human race is sick with greed and it's God's grace that waits, patiently, giving all of us every last opportunity to turn and see his grace and respect his sovereignty so that we may come to know him for who he really is and accept his son as our gift, to live forever in the new heaven on earth.
For those of us who have been blessed with an inherent understanding of God and his grace, we are able to live lives a bit more free of this greed each day we are still here on this earth.
So each day I choose the attitude of gratitude - cliche - but oh, so POWERFUL. This life is a battle of the mind. When you choose to focus on grace by way of being grateful for every moment of each day, one moment at a time, you are giving the control back to God - where it should be.
If you know me personally, then you're witness to what God's grace looks like played out on this earth. It's not sitting back and expecting handouts, it's giving the wheel back to the one in control and thanking him for loving me enough to spill his grace on me.
Look for your miracle of grace today! Maybe tell me about it in a comment.
Remember, Grace means getting something you don't deserve.
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