Awaken to His Grace

A message I recently shared with the women in our church....

I lay in bed the other morning feeling a sense of dread. Do I even want to get up? It had been a rough week so far, and I didn't know what the day held for me. What dangers lurk ahead today?  I may get sucked into a black hole! Maybe I should stay here under safe covers. But I whispered, “Lord, have mercy on me,” and got out of bed.

Sipping on a mug of coffee, I opened my Bible, and soon the God of Hope spoke with His gentle and gracious voice.

He quieted my fears and gave me strength to equal my day. He refreshed my spirit. He comforted me with His tender mercies. He reassured me of His unfailing love and set me free from the lies that would hold me captive. He gave me an expanded capacity to love. He proclaimed His sovereignty and gave me the peace to relinquish my role as a control freak. He dared me to believe His promises. He flooded my heart with courage, enough courage to lay my Isaac down. He clothed me with gladness.

I leaned on Him, and my soul rested.

This is His holy exchange: my weakness for His enabling grace.

And He promises the same for all who come to Him:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.

“Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle, meek, and humble, lowly in heart, and you will find rest, relief, and ease and refreshment and blessed quiet for your souls.

“For My yoke is wholesome, useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp or pressing, but comfortable, gracious and pleasant—and My burden is light and easy to be borne” (Matthew 11:28-30, Amplified).

Amy Carmichael wrote, “May each one touch at least the border of His garment. One knows when one has done that. It is different from just reading or even just praying. Something happens when we touch. What happened? Who can tell? Only we know that something has passed from Him to us – courage to do the difficult thing we had feared to do; patience to bear with that trying one; fortitude to carry on when we felt we could not; sweetness, inward happiness, peace.

“God’s way is to take some word in His Book, and make it spirit and life. Then, relying upon that word, it is possible for us to go on from strength to strength. There is always something new in our lives which calls for vital faith, if we are to go on with God; but there is always the word waiting in His Book which will meet us just where we are and carry us further on.”

The Doctor is in! He heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds. He breathes life into dry bones. May we daily accept His invitation to come and have a conversation. May we meet Him in the secret place, choosing the one thing which will not be taken away. May we enter His holy exchange and receive beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

May He be our exceeding joy, and may our lives display His splendor.

The next time the alarm clock goes off?

Trust Him; it’s okay to get out of bed.

Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him!' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:23-25