My Illusions were about to be shattered…

We drove to our friends’ house for dinner.

In our big, busy, noisy metropolitan area, their house seems like an oasis.

It sits on a large tree-shaded lot almost big enough to be called an acreage…

Every time we visit, I project the calm, peaceful setting of their house onto their lives.

As we sat talking after dinner, the hostess shattered my illusions…

“Things are tough for us right now”, she said.

“I’ve been worrying a lot lately. But I got out of bed and decided today would be different.

I was going to accept God’s grace and not grumble or complain about anything.”

“I wasn’t in the car driving to work five minutes before I realized, I had failed.”

“The traffic was bad…”

“The day at work was going to be tough…”

Then I started thinking about our family problems, and I cried. “

I realized I wasn’t living in God’s grace at all.

“I wanted to honor Him by simply being able to accept His grace.   I failed.”

“But then a Bible verse came to mind …”

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“And so I prayed that He would move me away from my fears and feelings of failure and back to where I could simply accept His grace.”

As we left, I realized that I had been right about one thing.

She was a mature Christian….

I needed to learn from her example.

From the example of her reliance on grace …

But he said to me, “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.   2 Corinthians 12:9

 What about you?

How have you leaned to accept God’s grace in your daily life?

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Note: This stony first appeared in  November, 2013