Grace Makes Me See Through
We interrupt this regularly scheduled post about growing in grace with an unplanned post about the same subject. Yesterday, I had a slight setback physically, and I took to writing on social media and well, I wanted to share it with you. "I know, I know; talking about God’s grace again. It’s not that I don’t have anything else to say, but it’s that I can’t exhaust it if I tried. Over twenty years ago, grace was with me every time I got under a 600lb squat or a 405 bench. Week after week, as the chalk was flying and Metallica was blaring, I'd whisper to myself, “I’m saved, I have a future, I’m blessed.” I’d let the fire build in my heart until it was an inferno, and then I’d dig a hole with each rep. Rock and fire. Like a piston, up and down. It's light! Rack it! Again. More. Again.
Twenty years later, God's grace got me through things even heavier. When my neck was replaced, grace got rid of my walker. When my lower back was rebuilt, grace let me tie my shoes by myself. And many of you know that when I was stricken with an infirmity of my colon, a risky surgery to repair an involuntary muscle left me with a pain I can’t explain and a lifetime to manage it. But grace sustains me. (I admit, I’d prefer to lose the rest of my spinal disks than to live with this, but I can’t.)
Transparent? Yeah, I’m transparent. Grace makes me see through.
Guys, when life crushes you, God not only repairs, He restores (or He will someday in Heaven.) That’s what we mean when we say grace is enough. If we never get better, Heaven will be more than enough. Why do I always urge grace, fueled by faith and wrapped with humility? Because everyday, amid pain and loss - and before my little workout - I’m still whispering to myself, “I’m saved, I have a future, I’m blessed.” Jimmy Peñã
For Discussion: You guys praying for me? I'm praying for you. Appreciate you taking the time to read and spend a few quiet moments together as an extended family. Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Have a great day guys.
