Grace For The Journey

  It seems like a contradiction to be speaking about “the grace of broken places.”  But this is exactly what a broken place is for.  My family and I experienced this in a real way this past week.  My brother informed my sisters, and I last Tuesday that my oldest sister had suddenly passed on.  In the midst of the shock, broken-heartedness, grief, and thankfulness that she knew Jesus and was more alive now that she ever was, we discovered the grace of broken places.

Do you remember the passage from Isaiah that Jesus selected to announce the beginning of His public ministry?  It is recorded in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”   This passage powerfully teaches us how God is working in our lives even during difficult times.

God uses broken places to make broken people whole . . .

• He uses the broken place of poverty to make us rich.
• He uses the broken place of sickness to make us well.
• He uses the broken place of suffering to give us grace and peace.
• He uses the broken place of grief and sorrow to give us comfort and a realization of His awesome presence.

The grace of broken places is known only by those who are living for Jesus.

When we are living for self, broken places become stumbling blocks;

When we are living for the Savior, broken places become stepping stones.

I have learned from personal experience that broken bones heal stronger than they originally were, because of the calcium buildup at the place of the break.  This is true in the life of the believer.

Every broken place is designed to be a place where

We grow stronger for having gone through it.

It is a fact of life that our plans get interrupted, our agendas get sidetracked, and our goals get put on hold.  But that is only because God is at work in us to create something better than we were originally hoping for and working toward.

So . . .

Where in your life right now do you need to see a broken place as a grace from God?

The Lord told Paul, during one of his broken place experiences, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

What a great reminder to us during times like this in our lives …

God’s grace is enough and His power is shown more completely!

Broken places are designed to demonstrate both our weakness and our utter dependence upon the grace of God.  That is why He has put His gospel in “jars of clay.”  God’s grace is on grand display when it shines forth in human weakness, in order “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

God is not only in your broken places;

He has ordained them for you to go through.

Why?  Because He loves you – not only just as you are – but so much so that He refuses to leave you there!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey

… Rest And Rejoice In The Wonderful Truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “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.”