Your heart is beating right now.
You are living in a specific country.
You interact with certain people.
You do certain things.
Certain things have probably happened to you, too: things that you didn’t ask to happen.
This is your life.
Life is so often what we make of it.
Things happen to us - good and bad.
We make choices - good and bad.
Days keep coming, though, and we still have the power to choose within those days.
Here’s two choices we would do better to make more often.
1. Choose this grace.
“But
he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians
12:9).
We fail. We choose badly, but we have grace because of our Lord. He has grace for our selfishness, for our wasted moments, and for our outbursts of anger.
Truth is: He knows that we are going to fail, sees the frailness of our humanness, and yet has chosen to love us and call us His children, anyway (John 3:16; 1 John 3:1).
In a world born and raised on grace, we shouldn't lose sight of the power of it.
This grace comes from the Maker of the stars (Genesis 1:16), the Author of the universe (Colossians 1:16), the Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16).
This grace is there every time, no matter how many times we fall into it.
So why not make that of life?
Make it full of falls into His grace, into His love, and into His truth instead of into our own confusion, condemnation, and anger.
2. Choose to make.
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1).What did He make of life?
He made a way for us (Hebrews 6:19-20). He made us new (2 Corinthians 5:17). He redeemed His people (Luke 1:68). He gave purpose (2 Corinthians 5:20). He lavished with joy (Psalm 16:11). He infused with hope (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
What are we, then, going to make of what He has made for us?
For we are no exception;
So why not make it a time …
- to choose to see the good in situations and in people?
- to choose to focus on the lessons we are learning instead of counting the mistakes we are making?
- to fall into His grace and accept His love?
- to live making the most of our time: to throw ourselves into delighting in our savior and following His lead in each moment?
Life for us, too, will so often be what we make of it.
© 2015 Deborah Hope Shining
0 comments
I definitely don't want this to be a monologue. What are your thoughts? Questions? Ideas?