So much has been rattling around in my head lately that no one blog has come to fruition, but yesterday a clear message penetrated my heart. I thought that message was definitely worth sharing.
From at least three angles (probably more), the Lord has been teaching me about grace: counseling, corporate worship and small group bible study. In counseling, Shea and I have been working through the issues of marriage and seeking to understand and apply God's principles to make our marriage successful and God-honoring. In Corporate worship, our pastor is leading us in a series through Ephesians called "marriage-ability" (http://www.firsteuless.com/ if you want to check it out) which is all about what makes marriage and life work. In small group, we have been studying through the book of Judges. What an amazing picture of God's grace there! And overall, God's theme for me this year has been grace! As my counselor puts it, there is "The Call" (to obedience) and "The Comfort" (grace for our failure at obedience). Yesterday I found The comfort of the call in Hebrews chapter 4 and I wanted to share how it pierced my heart.
Hebrews 4:12-16 "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Let's start with the latter portion of that passage. I have realized this year, with much dismay, that so many of my life's struggles are simply a disconnection to the empowerment of God's grace in my life. The enemy deceives me so easily that I am alone in my afflictions and that God is not concerned with such small matters as a meal, a hormonal imbalance, troubling thoughts or fears. But God is concerned. "For I do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with my weaknesses." So in my weakness, where do I turn? I admit I often turn away from God. With my weight, I've turned to trends, programs and techniques. I've turned to studies and man's data. I tack on a prayer at the end of "help me", but I know deep down I keep taking this up as something I do on my own. But in every struggle...there is a promise of God's tender care "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." I don't have to do this alone. I also don't have to cower in a corner and cry for help from afar...I can approach the throne with confidence! I can take my wayward thoughts, my tumultuous emotions, my bad attitudes and entrapping habits and lay them at the feet of a Father who cares so deeply for me that I cannot begin to fathom the depth of that love!
But what is grace for? See, rules I understand...laws I get, but intellect has failed me in the practical application of life! Knowing God's laws has not brought me one step closer to success. In fact, laws in and of themselves, have only heaped burning coals of guilt on my head! I hate that! I can't win a race I'm told to win. But that is where grace steps in. I used to think that grace was merely dispensed to cover over my next failure and my next and my next and my next. But in the first part of this particular passage, God is calling us to a standard and reminding us that nothing is hidden. His word reveals our depravity and we are (whether we want to be or acknowledge to be) absolutely naked and vulnerable to the core of our beings. What does a person do with that knowledge? Nothing, absolutely nothing, is hidden from His sight.
It has been intimidating and oppressive to think that I had to bring my filthy sins before this beautiful and perfect Redeemer, but I had my picture all wrong! This beautiful and perfect Redeemer was not one who couldn't or didn't understand me or the plights I endured. He was one who intimately understood my feelings of rejection, sadness, and abandonment. I know he even understands my lack of trust and security which translates into my fearing so many things. With such a tender God, why do I find it so difficult to rest in His grace? I can find grace to help me in every time of need. And that is the power I have been missing!
My son likes to walk along of a particular patch of lawn at our church. It is landscaped with huge rocks all around the edges; he steps from one rock to the next, usually counting each rock as he goes. Yesterday, as we walked past the rocks and he jumped up to do his usual stroll, he struggled a bit, but like always, I reached for him and as he grabbed hold of my hand, his gait steadied and walking the otherwise treacherous terrain was rather easy. THAT was my picture of God's grace.
We all walk treacherous terrain in this life. We may not always realize how treacherous, but it is. And rather than being left alone to climb the rocks of life, stepping from one to the next, hoping the rock doesn't shift beneath us and cause us to fall, we have a steady Hand to grasp! We have a Creator who is walking with us. Through the Son, we can grab that hand of the Father and walk with confidence and assurance that the terrain of life will not get the best of us.
So the core of the message today is that obedience and grace go hand in hand. Before, I saw God hand as obedience and mine as grasping for grace (and not always successful), but now I understand that my hand is obedience and God's strong, supportive, never-let-go hand is His all sufficient, never failing grace! Do we not serve an absolutely amazing God? Wow....
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