Long after I gave my life to Christ, I still had zero clue about grace. What was it? Something that sounded nice enough. Something polite. Maybe something you said at dinner? Regardless, it sounded great. I didn’t know if I needed it. Not until I hit the bottom of the pit was I formally introduced. God’s grace found me alone in the dark and shone its bright, warm light of love over me. I was inching, crawling out of despair until I landed under the shelter of His wing. That’s where grace brought me. It allowed me to rest while the Lord did for me what I could not do for myself.
Grace is an unlimited supply of God’s supplication and power to meet and exceed our needs both spiritual and physical. Grace is God’s undeserved, unmerited favor poured out over your life by Christ Himself through the same cross He gifted our salvation through. Grace is God stooping down to grant you kindness, granting you favor and meeting needs that are beyond your abilities or expectations. It is God interceding into our lives and lavishing us with His love. The first burst of grace lavished on mankind was on the cross as Christ paid for our sins and gifted us eternal life. Grace is nothing we can earn ourselves. It is a gift. Freely given and can never be bought or earned.
In the pit, in the dark, writhing in agony, grief, fear of the unknown is where grace is often met. It’s grace that will give you the strength to get your feet back on the path He has set out for you, your heart and mind all pointed toward Christ while He works supernaturally behind the scenes to change your circumstances.
Our job is to obey, to have faith, to trust, to know that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. So let’s take a lesson from Paul and boast all the more gladly about our weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on us.
The end is the beginning
Thank you, friend, for journeying with me! I hope you’re not exhausted, but excited to know that even though we’re made of flesh, we have a supernatural power on our side and He just so happens to be our Father. What a HUGE relief to know that we are forgiven, and we truly do have hope no matter how bleak the situation is in our life. I’d love to end with this.
“The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”(Psalm 34:10 NIV)
I do believe that above all, that good thing is Jesus Himself.
There are moments in our life that feel impossible to bear, storms too dark, too violent to comprehend, and I hope in some small way the pages of this book may have helped ease the chaos and brought you a ray of His light that you desperately needed. I hope you hang on tight each day, clinging to Him, pouring yourself out before Him, not in an effort to wear yourself out, but to empty out the darkness that might be surrounding you as you lay it at His capable feet.
He is with you, in you, over, and under you. He has encased you in His perfect love. He wants to help. He wants to make you everything you were destined to be. It is not too late. Never too late. He has not given up on you. He is calling out to you, holding out His hand, holding out everything—His son, eternity, His love.
It is all for you.
You are His biggest concern—give Him all of yours.
Give Him all of you.
Ignore the water beneath your feet and keep your eyes on Jesus.
Biblical Evidence for HOPE
Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
—Zechariah 9:12 (NIV)
But God will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will never perish.
—Psalm 9:18 (NIV)
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
—Romans 12:12 (NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
—Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
—1 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV)
“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
—Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
—Psalm 39:7 (NIV)
While we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
—Titus 2:13 (NIV)
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
—Psalm 23:1-6 (NIV)
But those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
—Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
Blessed are those whose help is
