Thriving by Grace
“God majors in impossibility” is one of those uplifting, encouraging, and empowering facts of faith Mary DeMuth writes about in her new Everything book. Impossible is nothing to God, he is mighty powerful! Also nothing is impossible with God, he will empower us to thrive by grace.
This quote encourages me to embrace life fully no matter what happens: “God’s heart…is not that we escape our lot, but that we learn to thrive in the midst of it” (Mary DeMuth). If our lot is a frozen tundra, so be it. If our parcel is something else than we visioned for ourselves, God helps us to go through it. And not just to survive but thrive!
There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! (Romans 5:3-5, MSG)
God wants for us what is good for us. Escaping challenges does not often fit the bill. God wants us to grow and most often it involves some growing pains. Sometimes we even feel that we’ve been buried alive. But even then we can trust that God knows what he is doing. God has a plan and he will enable us to not just survive but thrive!
How can we thrive in the midst of chaos? Only by grace.
The easiest way is to surrender everything to God and praise him in any situation we find ourselves. Because the less control we hold, the more room there’s for God to work in our lives. The faster we let go of our own fantasies, the sooner we can experience God’s blessings in our lives.
When we learn to praise God for/in difficulties, we receive unspeakable joy. When we embrace our lot, it paradoxically becomes a source of life for us.
When we obey sacrificially, Jesus comes alongside us. And suddenly we do thrive by grace. Miraculously and against all odds.
This might sound crazy but it works. We can’t make ourselves to thrive in the hardships. But God can!
Gracious God,
We thank you for all the challenges we meet
because they are blessings in disguise.
Enable us to praise through the storms.
Empower us to thrive not just survive.
Equip us to help others along the way.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Q4U: Have you learned to embrace the hardships? What has helped you?
Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you prayerfully meet challenges and praise-fully thrive through the tough times!
Mary DeMuth has a fun Pinterest contest going on…Pin it & Win it…a contest where you can win a Kitchen Aid stand mixer in the Everything color. How cool is that! So I created my very first pin (above) to enter this contest. Yay for challenges!
If you’d like to win a copy of Everything (& you live in the U.S.A.)….check out this giveaway. Or purchase your copy at your favorite bookstore or through one of these links:
Image courtesy of Mari-Anna Stålnacke . Linking up today with Thought-Provoking Thursdays and Faith Filled Friday.
