The Grace for the Tempted and Tried

It has been a rough few weeks.  The kind that makes you want to just curl up in bed, covers pulled tight over head and never come out.

The temptation in trials, sometimes, is to just forget who you are.

Sunday, Pastor Steve preaches this message, about the tempting of Jesus, and I can feel it sinking deep into parched ground.  Oh, how I've needed to remember who I am, Whose I am.

I am His.

And it's this miracle of Grace that changes everything.

I am His, not because I am good enough, I'll never be that.

I am His, not because I get it right, but because He can't ever get it wrong.

I am His, not because I work hard at it, but because He's told me to just believe that He already finished the work for me.

I am His.

And it's this trusting, this believing in His grace, that changes everything.

I've spent over two years meditating on the book of Romans, trying to soak this grace deep into my pores.

At morning devotions with the six kids, we read it again.  Romans 5:3-5.  "And we can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill us with his love."

So, I say to these six little ones, "Why can we rejoice when we have problems and trials according to Romans?"

The oldest girl she raises her hand, "Because they help make us more like Jesus."

The oldest boy says, "Because God means it for our good, because He loves us."

And in that moment, I am overcome, with just amazement.  Yes. Yes. Yes.

Because I have been the one pouting and griping over my light and momentary trials and here these babes, get what I so desperately need, to just believe that He loves me.  To believe that His love, always chooses what is best for me, for my good, says Romans 8:28, and these trials are meant to make me more like Him.

And isn't this what I really want?

I think I want momentary happiness, I think I want easy, but really, in the deepest part of my heart, I want to glorify Him with all that I've got, and be changed into His likeness with ever increasing glory.

The temptation in trials is to turn against God, to rail against the hardship, to fall into self pity or to find a way out of it on our own.  But God says, "Trust Me."

"Trust Me that I am using this for your good and for My glory.  Trust Me that I am building endurance in you, child.  Endurance that you need, to lead you to deeper character, to become more like My Son.  And this transformation, increases your hope in My salvation because you begin to see in reality the Truth of what was purchased for you on the cross, freedom from sin and forever life. And Hope in Me will never disappoint you."

And so, in this I can rejoice, even in the midst of trials, because I remember that He who loves me, is working all things together for my good, that I might bring Him greater glory.

And I have already begun the rejoicing.



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