My husband and I have been asked to showcase a dance at a statewide dance festival in about a month and a half. The dance will be a Foxtrot and is one of the harder rhythms to make look graceful. We're practicing and working on issues of technique, but I sometimes wonder if we will ever be as graceful as we'd like to be. Since we practiced last night before bed, it was on my mind as I went to sleep. This morning I woke up with a verse on my mind that made me laugh at God's humor - and be filled with gratitude at the same time.
"Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God's throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it." (Heb 4:16 NCV, emphasis mine)What a promise for me at this time!!!! My first thought was, "I know that isn't what that word in the Bible is really referring to." But then I realized I was in danger of tossing away God's gift of reassurance to me! I decided to do a bit more looking at what the Bible says about grace.
It's a word that is used A LOT, but one verse really jumped out at me. It's a verse from I Peter and says:
"GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." (I Peter 5:5 - New American Standard, Updated)Clearly I'm being given instruction here. If I am in a space of pride, I can't expect the grace I want! Immediately, I think of another verse that reinforces this idea:
"Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall." (Prov 16:18 - Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.)I CERTAINLY don't want to fall as we dance the showcase!
Father, as we dance this showcase, and in all of my life, I want to be an open channel for your love and grace to flow through. Father, I want all bits of pride removed - and I don't want to fall! May I be teachable with true humility of spirit, not thinking of myself more highly than I ought, but measuring my value by the amount of faith you have given me (Rom 12:3). Father, I want to trust you in this showcase - and in all the rest of my life. As the Biblical father said, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24) Thank you, Father, for lifting my fear and anxiety about this showcase as I accept your promise of grace. I love you, Lord. Amen.
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This blog is simply a sharing of my "daily bread" - my daily walk with God. If something I've said has touched your heart, or sparked a new thought, I'd love to hear from you.