small steps

small steps

Friday, April 25, 2014

Moments of Grace

It all can be such a whirlwind. Ministry. Life. The days of the calendar and the hours of each day filled to the brim. When I look at my calendar, there's nothing I really dread in the days and weeks to come. It's all good...but it's full.

Sometimes in the fullness, in the constant going and doing and serving and loving...hard stuff and situations and unexpected changes of plans are thrown in the mix and twisted in the midst of all the fullness. I've felt that a lot lately. That even though I have a calendar filled with plans and agendas I can't always control the twists and turns that creep into the fullness of it all.

What I'm realizing is how defining those moments really are--that in the moments where I have the least amount of control over any given situation is where I have the greatest opportunity to reflect who I really am, that I have the chance and the opportunity in the hard and full moments to reflect a greatness that is far beyond myself.

Those are the grace filled moments. The moments when I want to give up or run away or make it ALL about me. It seems easier to turn to all of that in a quick instant instead of rising above it, right? Maybe I'm alone in this and that extends my need for these grace filled moments even more.

God nudged my heart this past Easter. He nudged it in a way that made me wonder how long I've been ignoring His gentle pull. He has been covering my life with dozens of grace filled moments over the past few weeks--moments where a hug or a prayer or a text message came at just the right time. Moments of singing "Let it Go" with a group of my girls on a retreat and watching the sweet faces of my students filled with tears of joy after saying yes to Jesus for the first time. Phone calls where I am just able to sob into the phone and know I'm loved on the receiving end. A hair straightener being shipped to me in the mail by my best friend after mine breaks...again. A Tuesday night Bible study with friends who are eager to grow in God's Word together. A small group leader sending me a text about reaching a student who has been hard to reach. The list goes on and on.

All these grace filled moments, raining down on me with love have been used by God in my life for the purpose of getting to that nudging point on Easter Sunday. That the truth and joy in the Resurrection is more than a one morning celebration. It must re-define the full calendars and the whirl wind and the busy seasons of ministry and life because it is the only sure thing we have to cling too.

When the whirl wind takes over like it often does, all glory and honor to the One who provides the moments of grace that draw us back. The sweet glimpses that remind me that His Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.