Laced With Grace

The sun bounced off the surface of the water, leaving diamonds in its wake. A crisp, cool breeze ruffled the leaves in the small trees planted along the edge of the sidewalk. It was a perfect day for a walk,  one of those days that somehow draws us a little closer to heaven.

I walked breathing in the cool, fresh air and, as often happens when I walk alone, I began to pray. There have been so many desperate needs in recent months – needs that are beyond the ability of mere humans to meet. Apart from the Lord’s intervention, there would be no hope. It is a comfort to place the burden into His capable, gracious hands and know that He hears and answers prayer.

I crossed the street and began walking near the man-made pond, with its fountains shooting plumes of water into the air. The ducks, sunning themselves in the grass,  saw me coming and waddled quickly down  into the water. They have made the long journey from the north and are wary of strangers. A little thought flitted across the my mind as I watched them – a little problem that had been worrisome. I brushed it aside, saying with the mental gesture that I didn’t think it was important enough to pray about. Or more correctly, saying I didn’t think the Lord would want to be bothered by anything so trivial.

In that moment I felt a gentle reprimand – a reminder that there is nothing in my life He considers insignificant. Every need, every care, every sorrow, every struggle, every disappointment, every thing that affects me is important to Him. He is the God who knows “when I sit down and when I rise up;” who is “acquainted with all my ways;” who knows what I will say “even before there is a word on my tongue; whose  thoughts about me, were I to count them, ” would outnumber the sand.” (Psalm 139)

He is the God who “counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.” (Psalm 147:4)  Jesus said of Him, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from Your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”  (Matt. 10: 29-31).

Never doubt the depth of the Father’s love for you. Everything that touches you is important to Him. As far as He is concerned, there is nothing insignificant in your life. It all matters to Him. You can bring Him all of your “impossibles” and all of the little things that don’t seem worthy of His attention. He bends down low and listens. He delights to hear your voice. He longs to draw you close and love you lavishly. You are absolutely safe in His care.

Blessings,

Linda

Picture: the little sparrows who have come for a drink from our birdbath – the sparrows He sees and cares for

“And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:7

With the eyes of my heart I look over the young girl’s shoulder and watch as she begins to wrap the newborn baby in the cloths she had packed all those days ago before they began the long, arduous journey. She cradles His hand in her own, counting the tiny fingers once again – pressing them to her lips in a tender kiss.
The promised gift has come in the form of helpless babe.

The years slip swiftly by, and I see the questions and wonder in her eyes as she looks across the table at hands grown calloused from work at the carpenter’s bench – hands that held tightly to hers not so very long ago.

I see tears fill her eyes as the day comes for Him to leave the childhood home and begin the work He has come to do. What pride and joy shine from those same eyes as she watches those hands reach out to heal and minister to the needs of those that follow after Him.

Just three short years later, and there is unbearable pain and anguish in her eyes as she looks at those precious hands splayed out on a wooden beam – pierced and bleeding. Hours later, did she once again tenderly cradle those hands as they prepared His body for burial?

Afterward they gathered together, those who had loved Him and were devastated by the loss. Was she there too? Did she look with eyes filled with fear when He suddenly appeared in their midst, or did those mother eyes recognize her child in this risen Lord? Did she hear Him say:

“See My hands and My feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Luke 24:39

Those precious hands, once so tiny and helpless, now forever scarred with the imprint of a love that cannot be measured. No longer the hands of her child, they were the hands of her Lord.

Blessings,
Linda

I bit my nails right up until the time I was in my late teens – right down to the quick as my Mom would say. I tried valiantly to break the habit. My nails would grow a little bit, and before I knew it I was biting them again. I envied all the hands with beautifully manicured nails, but apparently it wasn’t enough to stop me.

Instead it was a casual remark by the teenage boy who would eventually become my husband that finally did the trick. We had known each other for years and were friends. However one day I looked at him and my heart decided it was feeling a bit more than friendship.  I’m not sure how the subject even came up, but one day I heard him say, “I think it looks ugly when people bite their nails.”

I looked down at my own nubby fingers and saw them in a whole new light. From then on I stopped biting my nails. Just like that. There was someone who was more important to me than my long standing habit. It was the incentive I needed.

I’m not sure what triggered that memory, but it caused me to think about the things I struggle with on a daily basis – those besetting sins that seem harmless enough but are, nevertheless, sins. You know the ones. They hover there in the background whenever you pray for forgiveness – that list that you recite over and over again, wondering how He could possibly keep forgiving you for the same old things. Those things that bring shame and discouragement and often cause you to avoid prayer altogether.

I thought about my nail biting habit and how the cycle was finally broken because I wanted to please someone for whom I cared deeply. There is a little verse in John that speaks volumes. It is Jesus speaking:

“If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.”   John 14:15

If I love Him….it is as simple as that. If I love Him, I will stop doing those things I know cause Him pain, those things I somehow think don’t matter all that much but are unarguably sin. I will guard my tongue, eat sensibly, stop complaining….. Love compelled Him to suffer unimaginable pain and to die for those very things I take so lightly. My love for Him should compel me as well.

The miraculous thing is, His love for you and me is so great He has promised to give us grace to overcome all of those things. He asks only that we make the choice.  He asks that we love Him more than those things.

Blessings,

Linda