Grace Enough

2005 was not a year I want to repeat. Between a job losss, cancer surgery, and all the other things you can imagine that go along with those two issues, 2005 had its challenges. If you were to measure my stress level for 2005, it was probably off the charts. So I'm sure you can understand when I say that 2005 was not a year I want to repeat. And yet...

As I was listening to the message that my pastor shared this past weekend he included this text that got me thinking. "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." Proverbs 4:23 (GN) It struck me--was I choosing to think postively about 2005 or was I dwelling primarily on the negative?

Right there I began to make a list of all the positives that I had experienced in 2005. I quickly came up with a list of over 15 positive things that had happened in the past 12 months--some of which would not have happened were it not for my job loss and cancer surgery!

Doesn't God just amaze you with His ability to show us His grace even when we're facing challenging times in our lives? Sometimes it's when life seems darkest that His grace stands out all the more in stark contrast to what we're experiencing at that moment. And sometimes, I have to admit, it's in those "dark nights of the soul" that I see His grace most clearly.

I'm reminded of God's words to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. "He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses...for when I am weak, then I am strong."

May you experience grace enough in 2006!