Laced With Grace

Today I want to share some words that minister to my heart. Be sure to listen to the great song at the end.

My Help and My Deliverer (Psalms 40)

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is the man who makes
the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!

5 You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.

6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.

7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O LORD.

10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.

11 As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!

12 For evils have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!
O LORD, make haste to help me!

14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!

15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the LORD!”

17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!

Thank you Lord when I am poor and needy you hear my cry. Thank you for loving me in my weakness and may my lips never be restrained in sharing your goodness, mercy, and salvation.

At the beginning of any new year (yes I know it is already March!) people become contemplative, wondering what the new year will bring. Wondering what lies ahead. Well lately life has been handing people in my family some lemons. I begin this new year with more questions then I do excitement, but that tells me God is going to move in mighty unseen ways.

As I was driving home God said, “Lori what can you do with lemons?” Lemons are tart, most people don’t eat them just as they are, for many people they by themselves are undesirable. That is like some of the trails and questions we face, they by themselves are undesirable. But what happens to lemons if you add some water and some sweetener with a tall glass of ice, you have a nice drink of lemonade. Something that is desirable on a hot summer day. What if God takes your trials, your questions, adds a little more “through” kind of faith, grace and mercy into the mix? Then you have something that was undesirable, now bringing Glory to Him.

What I do know to be true is that if God is calling you to go through something, he will provide the means necessary to do so. Life may become unpleasant, our natural desire is to live a relatively easy life, but one thing I have learned is that God’s power is shown brighter through our weakness. When trials come, and life changes, God is calling you worthy. He is holding your hand through everything, asking you to be a vessel for His power. I guess the question remains, how will each of us respond? Because we have free will, God will allow us to fall into the pit of despair, he will allow us to become angry and bitter, but that is not his desire.

So I sit here looking at what is to come, asking God to remove some thorns, but knowing in my heart God is going to ask me to have some “through” kind of faith. God is asking me if he can take my lemons and walk me through the process in making some sweet lemonade.

Is your future uncertain, are you still dealing with job loss or health issues? Has life given you some lemons? Be encouraged God’s power is stronger in your weakness and he can take the undesirable and use it to bring Glory to Him. Right now for me, I take my Saviors hand and ask him to show me how to make sweet lemonade. How about you?

Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. Gen 25:8

Abraham was a man satisfied with life when he breathed his last breath. One thing God has been showing me a lot lately is that he is the GOD OF DETAILS. We come to God during periods of sickness, financial crisis, or friends in need but how many of us come to God with our everyday details?

One legacy my Mom has passed down was when entering a crowded parking lot we always heard her praying out loud that God would open up a parking space. As a kid I remember more times than not that he did open up a space! Today I find myself doing the same thing.

When you are trying to schedule your week and don’t know how things are all going to work, do you pray that God will take over your schedule and work out the details? Or what if the babysitter calls to cancel at the last minute, do you stop to pray that God will help you?

Because God has made it evident lately that he is a GOD OF DETAILS, when something unexpected occurs I look up and say, “Well you are a God of details how do I proceed?” And I have learned God’s way is so much better. Recently I was planning a trip and in my mind I had a vision of how things needed to be, it was not until God changed all the plans that I was able to step back and see that He had my best interest in mind and his plan was much better.

Relying on God for the big events in our life often comes easy because we KNOW it is out of our hands, but depending on God for the small details of everyday life (you know the things we THINK we can handle) comes with practice. And the more we practice relying on God we then become like Abraham “satisfied with life.”

Heavenly Father, may I rely on you for ALL things. From sickness all the way to finding a parking spot, may I look to you Lord. Amen