What lies you say. I find my self lying to myself. Lie’s like “It doesn’t hurt anyone to do this sin”,”she is saying I am an idiot” or “they hate me”. My mind and satan’s lies are real to be sure but they are not always the truth. God is working on me. He has an end in mind and is refining me to be His man. I feel it and it hurts but it is a good feeling too. I know that God is not making me suffer needlessly. Relationships are the hardest part of this refining. I have betrayed trusts, crushed hearts and humiliated my closest friends and family. These relationships may never heal or be the same. I am trusting God in these relationships and I know that God is never wasteful. God is working in the hearts of my friends and family to refine them to give Him glory and honor. To help me not buy the lies I need to remember who I am. I am His and He is mine. I deserve nothing but was given everything. I am loved by the Father and my worth is found in Him.
Trust
When Grace doesn’t Show up
Recently a friend went to a man he respected with a point of disagreement. My friend went to this man expecting to be received with grace and be able to discuss this disagreement but instead he was met with ambivalence. When I first heard this account I was frustrated with the lack of grace extended my friend and wanted to deal with the sin of not giving grace. Then sovereign circumstances turned it around on me and is now asking me to deal with how do I deal with not being given grace in a situation.
The first reaction to the lack of grace is frustration and outrage. I mean I deserve a little grace here, right? The next feeling is hurt, I feel that the person doesn’t care about me and that hurts. These feelings are real and could fuel more sin into our lives if we don’t put them in perspective. So what do we do when grace doesn’t show up? Trust in God’s grace and rest in your identity in Christ. This is not as easy as it sounds as most of us do really care about how others view us. Check these verses out. Prov. 16:20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. Ps 112:7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. The reality is that God has your back and while my frustration and hurt is real God still loves and delights in me. We can take that to the bank. God never fails us He always shows up.