Grace, Love, Peace

Let's get real.

Life is hard.

I had a friend text me that the other morning - life is hard! And she texted me too that God's mercies are new every morning and that I must cling to the truths that I am loved dearly by a God who hears our cries!

Hallelujah!

I'm learning a new language (life language and literal language GREEK) and greeting new adventures. And what's so neat and so completely and only by grace is that these past few weeks and months have been marked by PEACE.

what is the secret? 

the way to peace is JESUS.

The reading of the Word of God. Over and over. Psalm 73. 121. 139. 

The Lord is with me. 

The Lord guides me with His counsel.

My help comes from the Lord.

He will not let my feet be moved. 

The Lord is my keeper.

He is the shade on my right hand. 

The Lord will keep my life. 

The Lord will keep my going in and my coming out.

He hems me in, behind and before.

The Lord lays his hand upon me.  

How can we fear anything with a God who's gone before us, who hems us in as we go, who holds our right hand, who keeps our lives, who promises, who loves, who guides, who lays his hand upon us?

This is our God. 

wow. It's better than we ever dare ask or think or imagine, isn't it?

Recently, I reached a resounding conclusion that this stubborn heart doesn't often reach. 

I said out loud, "I have no idea what I'm doing."

And the thoughts, they've been constant. So all day, I am learning, that if I can't completely stop them, I can pray in the middle of them. And all in between them and on top of them and all over them.

In the moment, in the midst, in the fight, in the battle, these are the REAL prayers. I can't think them up or make them sound good by default or change them. They are real and they are honest. 

Mine are most often pleas. 

I need grace and wisdom and guidance. really badly. 

"Lord, lead me. Help me."

It's a different place than I remember being in. I am so incredibly happy! My life is wonderful! I count myself highly favored by a most gracious God!

That is not it. 

It's this. 

I'm doing new things. Decisions. My heart.

And I literally feel, and know, that I cannot take one step forward without praying and seeking Him. It feels weird and scary and paralyzing. It feels so important. 

But maybe it's this.

Maybe this desperation is where I should be.

This humble clinging. This waking up and praying, getting dressed and praying, driving and praying, thinking and praying, studying and praying, reading and praying, eating and praying. This startling, vulnerable place, this wide open place that I am trying to fill with LORD HELP ME.

and then knowing that He will. 

the Lord will help, and He will reveal, and He is good.

the Lord hears. 

I am living the most powerful story I know. I am living in the GRACE of GOD. I am living, belonging to a great Healer. I living by new mercies and the joys anew each day. Renewal, redemption, free from sin, new creation, love of God - these all identify me.

Perfect love casts out fear.

Abundant grace covers all.

The peace of God.

Amen!