Colossians 4:6

Let your conversation be always full of grace…

We recently watched Grace Unplugged as a family.  There was one scene in which the wayward daughter had brought such heartache to the parents that the pastor of their church spoke candidly to the father.

“You can’t let this paralyze you.”

He went on to share that God is in control, and you have to live your life as if He is–there are greater things to come!

Combining this moment with a sermon from Joyce Meyer Ministries, I was profoundly moved by the fact that, as humans, we are often paralyzed in our journey of faith.  Joyce shared the story of the man who was paralyzed physically and had laid by the healing pool awaiting an angel of healing for……

38 YEARS

 When Jesus came by the pool and asked this man, “Do you want to be well?”, the man shared,

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.  (John 5)

It sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  Wanting others to solve our problems; there is someone always getting ahead of me and getting the things I want no matter how hard I try…. Jesus got it and spent no time listening to the hopelessness– Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!”  Do we need a “get up” talk, and by the way, clean up that mess you made after 38 years of this circumstance…..pick up after yourself and walk away–move on to higher ground.

I read further and found that the community of priests were angered that this man was carrying his mat on the Sabbath and judged him.  The man was quick to defend and share that Jesus had told him to do this and he was healed! Oh yes!  The naysayers!  The folks who don’t want to see you well!  That is another post for another day, but realize this, you being well means changes in relationships.  And, just let me say, if you are strong enough to get up, pick up your mat, and walk, you will rock the very foundation that 38 years built!  Rock on!

So maybe parts of the story are legitimate and true.  Perhaps we could honor his tenacity to stay there 38 years?  Where God spoke to my heart is our “soul attitude”.  I had a healthy discussion with a friend much younger than me.  We agreed that life will never bring perfection–there is always “something”.  A struggling marriage, a wayward child, a serious issue at work, loss, sin in the world, sickness….

Where is God in all of this?  Do we hold our breath our entire life waiting to exhale a sigh of relief?

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Remember the cross?  This Friday we will reflect on Jesus’ death for us.  He died for us while we were still sinners. Think of that.  He never demanded perfection THEN I’ll die for you…..

He died so we could live abundantly in this sinful world!

He died so we could live life in abundance, not lack and stress.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.John 10:10

What does this look like in daily living out of our faith?  Will you choose faith and abundance or living in a paralyzed state of mind and being?

You, on purpose, choose to embrace abundance within the circumstance. Here are a few very personal struggles that I strive for, and honestly not always “there”,  but I ask God to give me His strength and grace.

I choose to love my husband and enjoy intimacy even when I don’t feel like it, or when we’ve frustrated each other.  I choose to enjoy intimacy as a gift from God, not a tool, weapon, or device….

I choose to pray over my children and love the goodness in them.  I don’t personalize their journey with God and allow it to control my relationships and life.

I choose to honor where God has placed me in this moment in my job, home, and health.  I don’t yearn for something different, I live in the moment and put my mind on the things above–His love, His grace, and His sovereignty.  In this moment, Lord, thank you for Your abundance–a heart of gratitude.

“Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing…. Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.” 
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

“I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, in the suffering, in the daily, in all the days before I die, the moments before I sleep.” 
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

“They say time is money, but that’s not true. Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time… the busyness of your life leaving little room for the source of your life…

God gives us time. And who has time for God?

Which makes no sense.” 
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are