Good morning…
“Sue – love your post this morning,” she texted me yesterday at 6:29 am after reading We Grow G.R.A.C.E. “I woke up having a terrible night sleep because I felt feelings of envy, jealousy, entitlement, confusion, and rejection about a situation in my life. And all this felt out of the blue after having a great, full, grateful day in peace and contentment. So I woke confused.”
She continued: “And when I read your message it reminded me – I took a little trip away from GRACE last night. As long as I’m living ‘in’ GRACE all is well. It’s funny how I woke up and before I read your post I was ready to hash out the whole night and all of my thoughts to figure out some answers. I realize our natural default is to need answers and how needing answers can become a nightmare. I’m so grateful for the quick reminder to move back into GRACE and how that desire for answers just disappeared.”
She concluded: “Also I wanted to share my favorite “R” for the GRACE acronym: REDEEMED. Be Redeemed and not a slave. Thank you for hearing God tell you how you could bless me this morning.”
I responded: “How cool is God? I am amazed that He can write through me the exact message you needed to hear exactly when you needed to hear it. You are so right: ‘As long as we are living “in” GRACE all is well.’ When we stray from the embrace of God’s grounding GRACE fears well up, feelings enlarge, and peace evaporates.”
Our G.R.A.C.E. acronym is continually renewed. Be Grateful and not entitled. Be Redeemed and not a slave. Be Available and not hurried. Be Curious and not self-centered. Be Encouraging and not critical.
But he said to me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.” Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, MSG).
…Sue…
