G is for Grace!
“And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.” Romans 11:6
As crazy as it sounds, I would choose cancer…as it is within the journey, I learned what God’s grace is…
Before cancer, I lived my life based on my performance and acceptance by others. I felt that if I did what was good and right, others would love me. If I didn’t live up to their expectations or asked for something, I was a burden. I needed to be needed, for if I wasn’t needed…I wasn’t worthy of love.
Somewhere during the journey, I learned that the love of God isn’t based on my works. I am loved by God because He chose to love me.
- I was too weak to walk: He carried me
- I had horrible pain: He comforted me
- I was lonely: He sent others
- I couldn’t give…He loved me
- I was breast less and bald…He told me I was beautiful!
It was within the journey that I was stripped of my “good” and my “bad”…and I found myself seeking God’s love and comfort, experiencing His grace.
Today I find myself repeating Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 12:
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Here are just few of the gifts I received today:
- Gift of coffee in bed
- Gift and blessing of sharing my lunch hour with some very special women
- Gift of the bloggersville: It is so fun to read others writing’s and thoughts
- Gift of encouragement from the comments left by fellow bloggers
- Gift of God speaking through this blog post at Let's Get Real! If you have a few minutes, this blog piece is definitely worth your time.)
4 comments:
I'm experiencing it now. I'm filling up with it. Overflowing. My best gift today was that I went outside and worked in my flowers for thirty minutes. Something I had to force myself to do. But it was wonderful and at the same time awful. I had an operation in Feb. and I'm still pretty much in the bed. UGH But I forced myself and I won. I even walked down to our barn.
Now tomorrow, maybe not. But today I won. :-)
I'm going to read the blog post now. Kim, you're a wonderful woman. So glad God brought you into my life. <3
Grace...I love the word and so I named my daughter Grace.
I am refreshed by your reflections. To be reminded that it is not by our good works that we are loved. Thank goodness!
I loved this post, idenified with much of what you said. My own illness has made me much more aware of God's grace.
My best gift today, a day with my husband with no agenda.
I'm so glad you chose grace. I'm giving myself grace. I can't do it all. Some days, I just need to rest and to be.
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