This has been an interesting year. There have been old hurts and disappointments to get over and new lessons to learn. (Yes, even though I order off the senior menu I still have things I need to learn… You Too!) Have you ever felt that you knew something well only to realize you knew very little at all? That’s how I feel about grace.
The biblical concept of grace is one of the most powerful realities in Christianity yet what I have discovered is that most Christians know little about grace and are not utilizing grace in their everyday walk with God.
My journey into the power of God’s grace actually started a few years ago. Being a bi-vocational pastor has many challenges that the average Christian (or pastor for that matter) doesn’t have to deal with. I am not complaining by any means, I know what I am called to and I thank God every day that he chose me for such a demanding ministry. But my calling does get tough at times, and very exhausting. People come to me quite often with a statement similar to this, “I don’t know how you do it all!” or “I could never do what you do!” I really appreciate their loving concern for me, but honestly, I have a power that comes from God through grace. This has been a lifesaving verse for me because of the demands of work and ministry: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NIV)
The grace of God has had such a profound effect on my life that when facing the trials of life and ministry I have not been overwhelmed to the point of defeat. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been no walk in the park. I have faced some extremely difficult situations, from breaking up a fight in front of a drug dealer’s coffin to countless hospital visits and crisis counseling for families. I have also seen God do miracle after miracle (over 100 healings in 2009 alone) and have been able to rejoice with hundreds of people as God’s power meets them where they hurt the most!
Even with all I’ve experienced I have barely touched the surface of the power of God’s amazing grace!
As the year began I was about as low as I have been in a long, long time. Saying that I was discouraged is a major understatement, I was as close to defeat as I had ever been. But right in the middle of my pain God spoke into my spirit a word I thought I knew, GRACE. For the first time in my Christian life grace came alive! Like I stated before I was utilizing grace more than most people… but I was not even close to the power that grace offers every believer.
For those of you who feel grace is one of those elementary concepts that you mastered long ago, stick around. Maybe we can learn more about grace together.
PEACE
