Amazed by Grace

            With every passing day, I am more and more amazed by God’s grace. In fact, I am completely overwhelmed by His grace! Recently, in my Bible study group, I mentioned this idea of being amazed by God’s grace and added, “I don’t know why I am surprised or amazed by it, but…”) and our group leader quickly made a very good point. She said, “I like that we are amazed by His grace, if we weren’t it might mean that we are not even noticing it anymore, or that we take it for granted.” Like I said, she made a good point.

            I have been through many things in my lifetime, and I have experienced God’s grace through it all, but lately, I have simply been blown away by it. I’m finding it difficult to put into words just how blown away I am! And you know me, I’m never lost for words! I thought I knew already just how much I need Him and just how weak and helpless I am apart from His power and grace, but, I have truly realized recently that I had no idea. Every day, I see His grace in new and exciting ways!

            In these past few weeks since the holidays, God has allowed me to walk in a very different role than I’ve ever walked in before. I’ve had pieces of this role, but never the “whole enchilada”, so to speak. God has entrusted me with some things that I would NEVER have imagined doing before. I often shake my head and laugh out loud when I think of the process I’m in right now. I am so under qualified, inadequate, untrained, too old, too bossy, too weak, and there are several other people who could probably do a much better job than me, but for some reason, God has allowed me to walk this adventure for right now. He has also surrounded me with such an incredible group of people. They have willingly added more to their plates, worked longer hours, stepped out of their boxes, and stayed faithful to God’s work. I’m not sure how long God will allow me to do this, maybe only a few more weeks, but for however long it is, I’m going to give 120% and I’m going to enjoy the ride, trusting His hand to lead me through it, all for His glory!

            God has shown Himself and His grace in HUGE ways in these last weeks. Every time I turn around, there it is again, His grace. Amazing, truly amazing! Again, it just overwhelms me and renders me speechless. He has displayed His power in ways that I would have never dreamed or imagined. But His Word tells us that He’ll do that. We just need to be watching for it. I think sometimes we get so busy and distracted that we miss His incredible and constant Presence in our daily lives. At least that describes me a lot of the time. But in these last weeks, I have discovered that I am in no way able to do anything well in my own strength. I MUST have His power, grace, mercy and strength and I cannot do it alone! I also need all of those wonderful people that I mentioned before. They have encouraged me so deeply by remaining committed and faithful. Some have gone way above and beyond. (You know who you are! J)

            God is teaching me so much. I’m sure I’ve frustrated people, and I’m sure I’ve made huge blunders that I’m not even aware of, but I pray that my weak efforts bless the Lord and draw others to Him. I’m serving in the area of my passion – worship, and I’m learning so many lessons that I thought I already had learned. God is teaching me to love others more deeply and to appreciate them so much more than I ever have. He’s teaching me that I am not a one person show and that it takes an army to fill the shoes of our former worship pastor (boy have I learned to really appreciate that man, his family and all they did for our church!). I am SO humbled by all of this, so extremely humbled. I have learned that I need my Lord in every area of my life, but especially in the area of grace. I blow it everyday and I need His grace regularly and consistently. He is so good and so patient with me, as others have been too. I also see that the church needs every person serving faithfully - all hands on deck! (and feet, eyes, and arms too!)

            As I close, I am reminded of a couple of my favorite verses. One was given to me the first time I ever did a solo in public, by that same worship pastor friend that I mentioned earlier. It is 2 Corinthians 12:9, and it says, “…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Truly I am weak, but He is strong! The other verse is Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” He is showing Himself to me in ways and in places that I never would have expected. He is doing “immeasurably more” than I could ever ask or dream! Am I amazed? Yes I am, and just like my Bible study leader said, I think that is a good thing. I pray that I will continue to be amazed. I pray that my heart will be thankful and that I will be drawn to worship Him more, for He is worthy of our praise!

How about you? Has God done anything lately that you are amazed by and thankful for? Have you seen His grace in your life like never before? If so, I’d love to hear about it! God bless and thanks for reading!

Holy Bible, New International Version, 1984 (NIV1984)