Wednesday’s Word

Grace Reality Check

2^nd Corinthians 12:9a: 

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’”

Thanks so much for joining me today for Wednesday’s Word! My prayer: that it would resonate in your heart, plant in your soul and bloom in your life! Grab whatever you’re having for our time together and don’t forget your Strand of Faith!

What if I were to tell you to prepare for a big storm, perhaps a flood, a snow storm, a wind storm, a hurricane or tornado? Would you panic and freeze or allow your panic to help you begin getting ready?

Whether a snow storm, wind storm, or an imminent hurricane or tornado, there are many things we must do to prepare to increase our chances for an easier mode of survival. If you’re lucky enough to receive advance warning, you can do all of these things to prepare and be found ready and waiting: board up the windows; purchase extra food and water to have on hand; have plenty of flashlights and candles as those are a must. You need an evacuation plan and a to-go bag and it’s always better if you let someone you know, know about it. You need some form of communication to stay informed, such as a phone or battery-operated radio; Charge up all your battery-operated essentials because you never know when the power will be back up. Protect your car, keep things from flying around you inside and outside; know right where your important papers are; be prepared for a flood by having mops/towels readily accessible. And don’t forget to have things to entertain the kids with to keep them calm and their minds occupied. Have your rain-gear handy; oh, and don’t forget, have some cash on hand because you never know when/if the ATM’s in your local area will be up or down!

Those are just some of the countless things to do to make life more comfortable in and through a storm. But how do we prepare for those storms within the storm?

Let me share what I mean. Life is full of storms, physical and emotional, expected and unexpected. We lose jobs, opportunities, things, but the worst kind of storm is when we lose loved ones, no matter if that loss is as a result of death physically or a tearing apart emotionally. These are the types of storms within storms that I just don’t think we can really prepare for, or can we? 

Recently, I faced one of my biggest storms: sinus surgery. ☹  That may not sound like a big storm to you or a storm at all, but when you add the issue of claustrophobia to this storm, suddenly it’s like a hurricane, or a gigantic earthquake! I did all I could to “prepare” for it: prayed up, stayed “up,” prayed through, worked through, read scripture, recited scripture, tried to swallow a spoonful of courage daily but the truth was no matter what I did to prepare, I was still not just scared, but terrified!

When the worst of the storm was behind me, and all that was left was the cleaning up in my mind, I was horrified at the mess I had made internally. I had not coped well at all. In fact, one could look inside my heart and see a mess, as if a storm had blown right through it and shaken everything all up. For several days I beat myself up on how I hadn’t really coped in the war room but had survived outside of the war room and every time I looked into the storm-brushed heart, there was still the aftermath of a storm…until finally I heard His voice speak these words:
My grace was and continues to be sufficient! You did nothing at all; I did it all and that’s okay! That in my weakness He was strong!

Talk about sending me to my knees for some serious after-storm cleanup! Oh, how humbled am I by His gentle reminder that I don’t have to do a thing in and through a storm and that my lack of active faith doesn’t render Him gone. That all the while, He not only watched over me, He carried me through the storm!

What storm do you need to prepare for, or just let Him carry you through? 

Carried…

Evinda