The Gift of Grace

God's grace comes in many different forms. For me it always seems to come when I fall short of following God's will.

Friends, is God asking you to reach out to someone? Perhaps he placed them on your heart, or you felt prompted to call or write them an encouraging letter. Some of you may have even felt prompted to do something for a complete stranger, can I encourage you to follow through with it?

Psalm 37:23-24 NIV

"If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumbles, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."

I recently read a statement in our Experiencing God Bible study by Henry & Richard Blackaby that struck me profoundly. It said, "delayed obedience is disobedience". I knew instantly that God was talking to me, because I had failed to follow through with two different tasks that He asked me to do.

Last month God laid two specific people on my heart and in my own selfishness I wanted to finish what I was working on. Do you know these two people were actually facing a crisis in their lives that I knew nothing about, but God knew and that is why he laid them on my heart.

In their moment of distress God wanted to let them know He was with them and that they were not alone in their difficult circumstances, and do you know what God revealed to me afterwards? He painted a picture so vividly clear to ensure I would not misunderstand it.

God showed me that I had prevented Him from loving these two people in their darkest moments. God wanted to use me to give them His Words of encouragement. God wanted them to know that He saw what they were dealing with and that He would be with them and strengthen them.

Friends, I share this experience with you so that you realize the urgency of God's promptings and the importance of them. I pray you will be encouraged to stop what you are doing and immediately say "Yes Lord, what is it you want me to say or do?" and follow through. Don't follow my example of delaying your obedience because I have learned personally that I was being disobedient to our Heavenly Father.

God will not only bless you for putting His will above your own, but He will give you an opportunity to finish whatever you are working on. Don't delay God's will because it's not convenient for you. Remember, God doesn't work on our time schedule, He sees the bigger picture He knows who is in need of His help. God is calling us to be His hands and feet and to share His Word with others, don't delay His love and His encouragement.

Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Even though we fall short of being who God is calling us to be from time to time, He continues to give us the gift of His grace and mercy. How blessed are we that He does not give up on us, Amen?!

Hebrews 4:16 NIV

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Friends, God convicts us when we fall short so that we will repent and change our ways. I want to encourage you to stay humble and share God's gift of grace with those in need. This reminds me of the parable Jesus spoke about of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35. I hope you'll take a moment to read that passage because humility gives God the opportunity to use us in such meaningful ways.

Stay humble, remain open and alert, listen for God's call, and obey Him.

Colossians 3:12-14 NIV

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Written by: Jill Theriault

Crossroads Coaching - @crossroadscoachingongodstime