Drink deeply of grace. Let His spirit bubble over and through you. Refresh you. Make you new. Photo of Stephen Moldenhauer, taken by Caleb Linville
“God did not run out of grace at the dawn of mankind. And He will not run out of grace for you or for me . . . Receive grace and let it wash away all shame and guilt form every unhealthy choice you’ve regretted and fretted over.” Lysa TerKeurst*
May was an incredible month for us, the season of the marriage our of beautiful Sarah to our new son-in-law, David. But challenges often come at the same time as incredible blessing, and soon after the wedding I faced a difficulty and I whined pretty loudly at God. Let’s be honest. I threw a fit.
David and Sarah dance. Photo by Creative Pixel Photography.
Throwing a fit mad me really mad at myself. The Lord had done amazing, miraculous, tender, sweet things for me and my family around Sarah’s wedding. I’m not sure I’ve ever known a time of such pure joy! He was SO good to them, to us, to me. And there I was a week later yelling at Him.
Geesh!
As I drove down the road I thought, “I wonder how God feels about how I treated Him after He was SO good to me.”
Then I knew.
He simply accepted me where I was. His grace covers me. His love pours over me. There are no walls. No condemnation. No pouting. As Lysa wrote, “This grace and the unfathomable depth of God’s love settle me. Breathes hope into my dread and trust into my doubts.”
Whether I’m stumbling on the general journey of life or the specific journey of losing physical and emotional weight, His grace covers my imperfections, my pettiness, my faults and failings. I don’t have to give into shame.
I don’t have to wallow in disappointment.
I don’t have to punish myself.
I can simply be.
Lean hard into His grace.
And start again.
And so that night I slipped off to bed telling God how much I love Him. Thanking Him for the many gifts. Asking for self-control in the area of my mind so that negative thoughts don’t boil up and sabotage the myriad of good gifts I can embrace. I ask Him to help me not give into temptation to further sin.
Every moment I can start fresh. Walking forward as whole, beautiful, clean, and forgiven. Step into victory and away from defeat.
How about you?
What does shame do to your forward movement?
How does grace impact it?
Can you believe (fully, deeply, truly) that you are accepted and loved right now and always, just as you are? Why or why not?
*The Made to Crave Devotional
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Tagged: devotional thoughts, encouragement for weight loss, losing weight inside and out, Made to Crave Devotional, weight loss devotional
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