How do You do it, Lord?
How do You take our struggles in a given moment and turn them into something sacred?
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
In that sacred moment, You enable us to speak with authority, Lord. Authority You delegate to us as Your Ambassadors. And authority You “mine out” of even the struggle itself… like hidden treasure. Authority we “earn” from having been there... in places that resonate deeply with those You give us the privilege of serving.
“There” in wildernesses and trials. “There” in opposition and discouragement seeking to defeat us and Your calling on our lives. “There” where You have met us with Your all-sufficient grace. “There” where You have empowered our weakness.
Impossibly so. Undeniably so.
And “there” in moments of emptiness, when You have come and filled us. Showing up as only You can… supernaturally. As The Answer to every problem / question / prayer. The Answer that is beyond any we could “muster” out of ourselves.
It is also true, Lord, that every success is sacred… because every success is a gift from You.
“If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Yet if our successes are sacred to You, Lord, how is it that our struggles seem even more so?
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4)
What could we ever have to offer You, Lord, that would be worth anything to You? Yet we are worthy, irrevocably. How can we be so sure? Because You have said so. And You have said so with much more than words.
You have said so from Your Cross.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
I was struggling this morning. Empty of any hope of being able to help. I turned to You in my emptiness, Lord. Acknowledging the truth of my present state. The truth of my failure looming ahead of me. Not as a fear, but as a seemingly foregone conclusion. An inevitable outcome.
But then You showed up… as You always do. You met me in my emptiness… my need… my ache. And You did a miracle.
I fell forward… I “failed forward”… to my knees. And there You were. Catching me. Helping me. Loving me. Lifting me. Filling me with Your Spirit. And suddenly, I had more than enough to bless others in their struggles.
You poured into me what You then poured out of me… into the lives of two dear sisters today.
They needed what only You could give them, Lord. But You blessed me to be a messenger of blessing…
… by turning my struggles into something sacred.
Awestruck,
Abba’s Girl