Gloriously Encouraged is a series where I have asked several beautiful women to share their hearts with you guys.
The purpose being to encourage you all.
I can't keep quiet about these ladies you guys, they are such gems!!
Beautiful inside and out.
I look forward to hearing what each of them shares on this topic.
I have asked them to share with you guys every week leading up to Christmas, so you too can be encouraged by them during this season of thankfulness and grace. May their stories point you to the one each of them loves!
I am so blessed to be able to call these ladies friends.
I find such encouragement in hearing how the Lord is working in their lives and working through them.
I hope you too will find their stories and hearts to be a blessing with where you find yourself on your journey with the Lord.
Much Love as always!
L
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Hello. I'm Brittany & I blog at These Happy Times. I just love L & I'm sure you do as well. I was so excited to meet her in real life at Influence and actually spend some time with her. Today she has asked me to share something from my heart. Before I continue, let me introduce my little family. My husband & our sweet little man.
About a month ago life kinda began to get crazy. By crazy I'm referring to busyness of life, commitments, emotions, way of thinking & feeling. There were way too many things on my plate and I really wanted to do all of them & do them all well. At the same time my little world began to get hit after hit all at one time. Life hand delivered two devastating pieces of information to me within 24 hours. At the same time my car broke down & my little family was all very sick with the flu. It was really not a pretty time in life.
I will spare everyone from all the details of the news that I received (for it isn't my story to tell) but I will say that I was broken. Like, really broken.
That next week I just kept trying to process information.
Asking the Lord what he would have me to learn during this time.
What did he want me to hear from him?
As I was driving in my car listening to this song, the Lord clearly spoke to my heart telling me I must learn to give grace in these situations. I ignored the Lord. I was still wanting to wallow in the crazy & not let him work in my heart just yet. Later that night I had coffee with a sweet friend who prayed for me saying, "Lord show her how to give grace in new ways." That prayer shook me hard friends. I decided to stop living in the crazy of life & start working to show grace through Jesus to get life back on track. To get the chaos out of my life.
For me I always thought I had an understanding of grace. Life has thrown me many curveballs in the past that grace was the only way to make it through. However, this last month of daily applying the gift of grace in my life, God has shown me a deeper understanding of grace. This is what I want to share with you.
Grace is an action. Did you know that God forgets my wrongs & doesn't hold them over my head? (Isaiah 43:25) In this same way I want to strive to give grace out when it hurts, when my flesh really doesn't want to, and when it takes everything inside of me to let something go & to not be ugly instead. I must remember that grace is a gift so I must learn how to freely give it. Big gulp, because its hard.
Grace is calling us to be more like Jesus. It is true. As hard as it is to show grace sometimes, it is easier when we remember that God calls us to be more like Jesus. The Lord prompts us in Eph. 4:32, "be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
Some truth for you: Sometimes we can't control the things that come up in life. Others can sometimes make life crazy for us. However, if our response is grace, kindness, and love we can determine if we will live in the crazy or not. Grace doesn't remove the crazy in our life instead it just dissolves it enough for us to focus, breathe, and make it through as we rely on Jesus.
Sometimes it is a blessing to be broken. Broken means we are at a place to learn & receive. My question for you sweet new friends is, Are you showing true Grace? Are you living it out the way our God calls us to?
Be encouraged that if you aren't, you are for sure not alone & it is never to late to start. I am right there with ya & working to live it out with the help of the Lord. I would love to chat with you about Grace so be sure to come say hello.
Thanks again L for letting me share something from my heart.
~Brit
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