Waking Up, Getting Up, and Choosing Gratitude

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."~ Thornton Wilder

Mornings have been tough of late.

To be honest, most days I want to pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep.

Rather than seizing the day, I want to ignore it.

But that's not really an option, not when there's a raring to go 7-year-old waiting for me!

This morning was more of the same.

Waking up and thinking, "I'd rather stay asleep."

And then the thought flitted through my brain: You know that grace you talk about, Beth? That grace that is sufficient for your need? It's sufficient for the needs of today too. The little ones and the big ones.

I have been talking about God's grace lately at several women's conferences. I'll be talking about it again next Monday night.

And I do believe God's grace is sufficient for me.

I just forgot about it for a minute. I let my weakness overshadow God's grace.

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

(2 Corinthians 12:9 NAS)

The truth is, this has been a tough season for me, a season of skimming low emotionally. Wise Guy would say, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

Well, I'm not arguing with him.

But right now I have to finish what I've started and then I can rest.

Until then, I will set my heart on the treasure of God's grace--trusting that God's power will be perfected in my weakness.

My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness.

(2 Corinthians 12:9 MSG)

Staying in the Moment

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

~2 Corinthians 12:9a

Imagine being a woman who bled for 12 years.

You spend all you have on doctors. No relief.

In Jesus' day, if you were this woman, you had no life.

According to the Law, you were unclean.

If you were married, that meant you couldn't be intimate with your husband.

You couldn't go to the Temple and worship.

You couldn't even go to the well and draw water with the other women. No freedom to meet with your friends and chat, talk about your day, your struggles, your hopes ...

You're a prisoner to 12 years of bleeding.

One day, you've had enough. You're desperate for something more.

Freedom.

Healing.

Something other than the life you've been living.

And so you dare to leave your house and go out into the crowds.

You're looking for someone--the man named Jesus. You've heard he can heal people.

Maybe, just maybe he can heal you.

You aren't brave enough to face Jesus and ask him to heal you.

But you dare to come up behind him while he's in a crowd and reach out and touch the hem of his cloak ... and you are healed. Immediately.

Yes, there's more to that story. But I don't want to talk about the rest of the story yet. I want to stay in the moment--the moment where the woman gathered her weakness in her hands and took it to Jesus.

Here. I can't do anything with this. I can't fix it. I can't live with this any more. Can you--would you, please, help me?

Just Thinking Out Loud: Sometimes that's all anyone can do. Stay in the moment of your weakness and admit: I can't fix this. I can't live with this anymore. Can you, would you, please, help me, God?

God promises that his power his perfected in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9).

I need to remind my Accidental Pharisee-self that my weakness isn't about what I can't do. It's about what God can do.