Day by Day Devotions
"Grace"
When Faith Falters
by
Hope N Griffin
Grace can find you in the mundane. It captures you in the most difficult moments and stops you in awe. It sneaks up on you in snapshots of children playing, it guts you as you hold the hand of a loved one breathing their last, it never abandons you even when your faith is not strong enough to hold on.
In moments of pain, loneliness, or insurmountable odds it is sometimes difficult to see purpose. It takes great faith to surrender to providence. We learn to hope and find encouragement from our own experiences of grace as well as the stories of others. Stories are reminders of God’s greatness.
There have been moments in my own life where grace was the only thing that held me. My faith failed me when healing did not come in the way I believed it should to my child. God wrapped His arms around me and held on though I desperately wanted Him to just let me go. His grace saved me.
Currently, I live in the Chihuhuan desert of El Paso, Texas. Stories of wandering through the desert resonate with me. I understand the grumblings of the Israelites and I wonder at times if my heart isn’t more closely aligned with theirs then with Christ. This is not my first desert.
Long before I was empty inside, I was angry and hurt that the God I loved, the God I dedicated my life to allowed my family to walk through pain. My daughter was diagnosed with cancer before she learned to crawl. I expected, no demanded a miracle. God did not deliver in the way I told him to and I walked away.
He did not let me get far.
I discovered I had been living with God in a box, inflexible when the path deviated from my terms and unwilling to see the blessings and the people he put in our path. Over time I was drawn back to him, to the grace and healing that only he could offer my heart.
Prayer: Lord help me to see that even when the things of this world overwhelm me that you are a loving God, that you are in control, that you are God and I am not. Help me learn to trust you.
Thought for the day: Is there something in your life you are trying to control but cannot? Are you angry/disappointed with God for the direction something is going?
Take a moment and reflect on Psalm 46:9-10 “He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. Be still, and know that I am God. I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world” Don’t put God in a box, he is to big to be contained.
|
|
