Overwhelming Grace. A gift given to us in our deepest darkest moments to remind us of the Light that cannot be quenched. When the burdens of the world are simply too much on my shoulders, and the pain is something that overtakes my thoughts and emotions…“When my heart is overwhelmed… lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:2)
There are moments in this life that spark regret, moments that lead to betrayal and bitterness, memories that ache inside the fibers that consume our being. Feelings that come from the darkness and not from the realm of Heaven’s gates.
Every person, every human ever created, every man, woman, child, cannot (will not) escape the defeat that is regret or the chasm of failure that our decisions often lead us to. Failure is a race in a league all its own. The finish line only leading to that of shame, guilt and defeat.
How do we escape the clutches of shame and heartache that strive to defeat us day in and day out? It feels so very overwhelming, to climb out of the anguish that our choices have left us with. Desolate. Barren. Broken.
But we don’t have to stay there in those dark hidden places. We can be in the Light that beckons us from our own ruin.
When we focus on the worst case scenario, when we allow anything other than the voice of the One who created us to call us out on our mistakes, telling us we’ll never be worth more than those decisions? We’re fighting a losing battle, and running a race that will never really be won.
But there is another choice. There is a way to walk out of the pit of failure and walk into that sliver of Light that will never dim.
Has the world kicked you when you’re already down? Have your own poor choices left you bleak and barren and begging for a way out? Is the shame of your past haunting you in your dreams and chasing you everywhere you turn?
Lift up your eyes. Look up to the stars and behold the Creator of them. The same God who set this world into orbit and sparks the night sky with twinkling light…is the very same God who fashioned you, Dear One, to be in His image. The holiest of reflections. Redeemed.
When the world tells you that you aren’t worth it? That you’ll never overcome your past, Read the words that tell you how fearfully and wonderfully knit together you are. (Psalm 139:14)
When the world throws confusion and setbacks and turmoil into your settled seas, remind the world who created the thunder and waves to praise Him. And when you need reminded that you are always enough? Hear these words written for you: “But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness…” (Ephesians 2:10a)
He doesn’t need you to be perfect, but He does want you in all of your anguish and all of this world’s awful weaknesses. The next time you think your decisions have left you too far from forgiveness, take that pain to the cross and trade it in for Grace; for His power is eagerly waiting to be made perfect within you.