I find it humorous how our lives can unfold in just a short amount of time. I mean, it takes mere minutes, sometimes seconds for things to change and take a turn in a direction we may not have predicted. Ankle sprains, for example, take only seconds and come out of no where! And that’s not the only thing that can change in a short amount of time.
I realized this week, while experiencing a lot of minor changes (including an ankle sprain) that we have it in our power to react to change however we please. God gave us free will, and we have the freedom to choose how we respond to the things life will throw at us. I’ve written in a previous post about choosing grace over shame, but it’s neat to see God bring these lessons up again.
I’m learning, through this change, that God loves us a ton. Enough so that he gives us grace, so much grace, UNENDING GRACE. In the midst of change, when we are thrown off course, or are left feeling empty and unloved, or are crippled by temptation or even sin, we have the freedom to choose grace. I recently came across this quote in my reading:
“To be a Christian is to be loved by God, pursued by God, and found by God. To be a Christian is to realize that in your sin, you were separated from God’s presence, and you deserved nothing but God’s wrath. Yet despite your darkness and in your deadness, his light shone on you and his voice spoke to you, inviting you to follow him. His majesty captivated your soul and his mercy covered your sin, and by his death he brought you life. Do you know for sure that you are his child, not ultimately because of any good you have done—any prayers you have prayed, steps you have taken, or boxes you have checked—but solely because of the grace he has given?” -David Platt
GRACE. It is by GRACE we are saved. It’s not by us, it’s not this revelation that we somehow got our messed up lives together before the throne of God, not at all. God comes to us in the mess and washes us WHITE AS SNOW. Why? BECAUSE HE LOVES US. Because he loves us so much he poured out the wrath we deserved onto Jesus and gives us the opportunity to be loved and cherished by him forever. THATS GRACE.
When change comes, when things don’t turn out the way we predicted, when people let us down, when we let ourselves down, grace is there. It’s ALWAYS there.
“God looked upon Jesus as though he lived my life so that he could look upon me as though I lived Jesus’s life.” -JR Vassar
Think about that for a second. I think we sometimes pigeon-hole ourselves into this way of thinking that God looks down on us when we fall short of His glory. But this is a lie! Look at what scripture says:
“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:14)
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Hebrews 8:1)
We have to hold onto the promises that God has given us. I sometimes have a tendency to form God into my life, but God wants to form, actually PERMEATE, our lives. He wants all of us, but we have to be willing to let Him move!
Imagine what your life would look like if you began to choose grace. To hold onto the hope promised through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let the gospel define who you are. Let the gospel be your map in times of change. Let the gospel be your hope.
Rest in that today. We need to NEVER outgrow our need for grace, or our need for the gospel. The truth of grace should drive us to share the truth of grace. Be light and be love friends.
Joyful with Christ 
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