Sometimes...
Just sometimes...
Sometimes when things appear to be at their most dismal, pitiful, and distraught state...
That's when you unexpectedly stumble across the most fragrant blooms of the season.
Sometimes, even when something looks to be dead and unable to produce any good.....
You find it a few weeks later, suffering itself to bloom...
Against all odds, amidst uncertainty, doubt, and even impossibility.....
Even among the thorns, the delicate rose blooms.
Even with the scrounging of the ants, the steadfast bud of the peony still opens...
Even with the scrounging of the ants, the steadfast bud of the peony still opens...
Even in the midst of a life fraught with despair and pain, even ignorance or self inflicted, God can still do a work in me.
THAT is what I came to realize that day.
That no, I cannot do it all. There is NO WAY that I can raise these children and take care of this house. There is NO WAY I can do this, sacrifice SO much for little to no recognition or thanks. No way at all.
But Christ can.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20
It is no longer I that live, but rather CHRIST in me. I am dead, but Christ lives in me.
I was lowly, but a worm on the earth. I was chief among sinners, until Jesus saved my soul and dwelt within me. I was born, but had not yet lived, until the day of my rebirth into the bosom of Christ. The Creator and Savior of the world dwells within me, and it is no longer ME that my heavenly Father sees, but rather Christ, His only begotten Son, in me. It's not MY works He sees, but rather the finished work of the Cross that covers me.
Grace.
Grace is what I came to realize that day.
The strength of Christ, rather than my own fallible, feeble, human "strength."
That no, I cannot do it all. There is NO WAY that I can raise these children and take care of this house. There is NO WAY I can do this, sacrifice SO much for little to no recognition or thanks. No way at all.
But Christ can.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20
It is no longer I that live, but rather CHRIST in me. I am dead, but Christ lives in me.
I was lowly, but a worm on the earth. I was chief among sinners, until Jesus saved my soul and dwelt within me. I was born, but had not yet lived, until the day of my rebirth into the bosom of Christ. The Creator and Savior of the world dwells within me, and it is no longer ME that my heavenly Father sees, but rather Christ, His only begotten Son, in me. It's not MY works He sees, but rather the finished work of the Cross that covers me.
Grace.
Grace is what I came to realize that day.
The strength of Christ, rather than my own fallible, feeble, human "strength."
The faithfulness of God.
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)"
Hebrews 10:23
God is faithful, and it is because of HIS faithfulness that I can hold fast to my faith.
Mercy saved me from a hell that I deserved, but it was Grace that seated me "in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2:6)
And it is God's faithfulness that keeps me there.
Praise the LORD for that.
It's not me, but Christ.
It's not my works, but Christ's.
It's not my home, but Christ's.
It's not my hand, but Christ's.
And Christ is faithful.
"Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."
1 Thessalonians 5:24
It's a promise by a faithful God.
HE will do it, not me.
As I begin to pick up the pieces, I am constantly reminded that I cannot fail, because Christ cannot fail, and it is HE that called me, and HE that worketh in me, eternally.
IN CHRIST is the new beginning, even when it seems to be the end.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
John 14:27
*
To be continued.....
"Forming the Plan of Attack"
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)"
Hebrews 10:23
God is faithful, and it is because of HIS faithfulness that I can hold fast to my faith.
Mercy saved me from a hell that I deserved, but it was Grace that seated me "in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2:6)
And it is God's faithfulness that keeps me there.
Praise the LORD for that.
It's not me, but Christ.
It's not my works, but Christ's.
It's not my home, but Christ's.
It's not my hand, but Christ's.
And Christ is faithful.
"Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."
1 Thessalonians 5:24
It's a promise by a faithful God.
HE will do it, not me.
As I begin to pick up the pieces, I am constantly reminded that I cannot fail, because Christ cannot fail, and it is HE that called me, and HE that worketh in me, eternally.
IN CHRIST is the new beginning, even when it seems to be the end.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
John 14:27
*
To be continued.....
"Forming the Plan of Attack"
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