Laced With Grace

All of us think from time to time, in whatever season or situation of life we find ourselves in, that things will never change. Whether we really believe the “never” part, is something that only we know in our own hearts. Personally, I might at first say that my situation will never change, but then I come back to the reality I know – that God is bigger than me, bigger than my circumstances and wants to be there for me. I eventually turn my eyes fully upon Jesus.

Some of us take longer than others to get out of our sadness. My prayer is to anyone who reads this post, that they will find hope in the power of God’s Word and His love for us. Believing that God is good, just, loving, and powerful while realizing that He wants what is best for each of us is so essential in our walk. When it comes down to it, it is only through God that we can find peace and rest for our souls.

I believe that not only must we know that God is there and all powerful, but in order to have faith in future change, we must also reflect on the past victories God has given us. Jeremiah reflected on God’s past triumphs in order to keep pressing on with his calling.

Jeremiah 32:17 (a part of Jeremiah’s prayer)

¹⁷Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: ¹⁸Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name, ¹⁹Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

²⁰Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day; ²¹And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror; ²²And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

Not only is it helpful to remember past victories, but is also important to remember how merciful God is to us and to those who really want to return to Him. God can give us new hearts and new minds if only we put our trust in Him and Him alone. Remember, even God says that nothing is too hard for Him!

Jeremiah 32:

²⁶Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, ²⁷Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

And here is His mercy and promise….

Jeremiah 32:

³⁷Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: ³⁸And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

³⁹And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: ⁴⁰And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

⁴¹Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. ⁴²For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

God WILL bring us through our storms. He can change any circumstance in our lives as well as change the hardest thing to change – ourselves. Just remember, never say “Never” when it comes to what God can do.

In most lives there comes a point where a decision must be made – it can be rather scary…or maybe even very scary.

The trail looks difficult, steep…you may falter or fall. The end is such a long way away.

Remember, always remember, that we have a Creator who holds our future and He holds our hand. It is when the road seems the hardest that He holds us the closest. He knows what lies ahead, even when we can’t.

It is a rare thing to find a beach without footprints. Vast stretches of sand, washed clean by the waves. Untouched – waiting for you to leave your mark.

Our life is like that – no matter where it is that we are standing right now, as we look into the future, we have yet to put our mark upon it. God can see it, like we can look ahead that the beach. We take choices; some are harder than others. But our Maker is there, always, guiding, leading, sometimes pushing.

Take a look at your beach – the one without footprints.

What mark are you going to make?

Lately I have been on a book binge. Tonight I sat down with a book I had picked up for my baby brother for his birthday (he is soon to be 16) and three hours later I emerged, book finished. This has been going on a for a few weeks now. Soon it will pass and I will spend all my “extra” time commenting on people’s blogs, or writing, or painting, or cleaning.

I am the same way with friends. I have never been good at life long friends. I tend to spend a lot of time with one friend for several months or even years, then we will go our separate ways and then I will make a new friend and follow the same pattern. It is hard for me to choose to contact someone I haven’t talked to in a while and if they don’t respond I am left wondering–Is she mad at me? Did I offend her? Is she just really busy? Is she having trouble at home and doesn’t want to talk about it? Is she just as bad at friendship as I am?

Knowing this about myself I have to make an extra effort to maintain my daily relationship with my Lord. I can go on study sprees and soak up all the Hebrew I want or research a book of the Bible to bits, but in the end it is the day to day stuff I need to focus on. What kind of friend am I being to my Lord? Am I keeping my eyes on Him? Am I making sure I am not offending or getting too busy? Am I turning to Him in times of need? Sometimes it is more of an effort than others but it is the most important thing I can do, and the most important friendship I can maintain. He is faithful and I need to be careful to be faithful to Him.

“Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 (R.V.)

Continually restate to yourself what the purpose of your life is. The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness. Nowadays we have far too many affinities, we are dissipated with them; right, good, noble affinities which will yet have their fulfillment, but in the meantime God has to atrophy them. The one thing that matters is whether a man will accept the God Who will make him holy. At all costs a man must be rightly related to God.~ Oswald Chambers

Lord of all the friendships I may maintain in this life, You are the most important. Lord help me to keep my eyes on you regardless of the storm around me.

How is your relationship going?