Where would we be without the grace of God? There isn’t one of us that can boast. God is the One Who enables us to stand, to overcome and to be a people pleasing to His heart.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10
Nobody likes to think about the areas where they are weak. We want to think about our strength. But the truth is God makes us strong in those weak places as we lean into His Presence. He fills in the gaps. Many times the Lord will push us into the place we would rather not go so that He can pull out the dependency factor in our lives. Sure. We can go on doing the things we are most comfortable with and maybe not need to trust the Lord as much. The more we look at things we will see that He puts us in positions that make us trust in Him. Right when we think we’ve got all of our ducks in a row He will do something to create that dependency factor in our hearts.
Thus says the Lord:
Jeremiah 17:5-7
Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
But there is no better place to be than to be a co-dependent on God. When challenges arise there is always a choice that we make in our response. Do we respond by leaning into God even more? Or do we take things into our own hands, doing things in the strength of our flesh? The one thing God is after is our whole heart. He will make every effort to pull our hearts toward Him. It is amazing how He will use just about anything to bring us around His direction. He only has good in store for us. At the same time everything has a price tag, a personal cost. Not that we pay God or work for anything, but there is a cost in following the Lord. Just the fact that “He is Lord”, means that we are not. That is sacrifice. We get the choice every day to give Him that Lordship over our lives, trusting in His goodness. In that place His grace is sufficient for us, completely and perfectly.
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen
1 Peter 5:10
He is the God of all grace Who is able to cause His goodness to abound in our lives. As we embrace a yielded life, surrendering to His call He will cause rivers to spring forth in the desert and bring forth blossoms from barren soil. God’s love knows no end. And He will go all out to bring us closer to Him.