Especially during the holiday season.
I felt it this morning. On an errand run. The sting that comes from irritation. And the heavy burden that accommodates the inflammation of an ill-tempered disposition.
And I
recognized it’s ugly head when I saw it this morning. Oh how I’m more
easily provoked sometimes by things that really matter least. Ahh.. more
evidence of my desperate need for grace. And heart work.
Because at the end of the day it was only a trivial thing. A split second decision by another driver to pull out in front of me. And yet a decision that carried with it the power to alter a day. A life even. Because it’s not as much about their mistake as much as it is about my reaction to their miscalculation.
And grace is always the better path to embrace. Always the wisest road to wander.
And so this morning I pause long to consider a different approach to irritation and bitterness and annoyance. And I wrestle to the ground the very question I’d presented to a room filled with hungry souls last night (again), “What is it that Jesus brought into every situation that made it radically different?”
Grace. Love. Forgiveness. Healing. Acceptance.
And redemptive solutions.
Ahh... yes... this!
And because He made it possible, I too can choose redemptive solutions. I, too, can submit to a better way of thinking. And behaving.
Because we’re all facing something that seems impossible. We’re all dealing with a fear nobody else can see. Some of us are wrestling with loneliness that others would be surprised by. Anxiety, doubt, worry, guilt, shame. We all face something. And I have no authority to assume an intentional wrong motive in another; not especially when the Word tells me I can’t even know my own heart (Jer 17:9).
And so today I choose peace. I choose to extend grace even when they’re undeserving.
Because if I recall correctly, His great grace on my life is undeserved. And in my own pain I am a mistake-maker too.
Today I can offer amazing grace as I remember the weakness through mutual suffering we all share.
Because at the end of the day it was only a trivial thing. A split second decision by another driver to pull out in front of me. And yet a decision that carried with it the power to alter a day. A life even. Because it’s not as much about their mistake as much as it is about my reaction to their miscalculation.
And grace is always the better path to embrace. Always the wisest road to wander.
And so this morning I pause long to consider a different approach to irritation and bitterness and annoyance. And I wrestle to the ground the very question I’d presented to a room filled with hungry souls last night (again), “What is it that Jesus brought into every situation that made it radically different?”
Grace. Love. Forgiveness. Healing. Acceptance.
And redemptive solutions.
Ahh... yes... this!
And because He made it possible, I too can choose redemptive solutions. I, too, can submit to a better way of thinking. And behaving.
Because we’re all facing something that seems impossible. We’re all dealing with a fear nobody else can see. Some of us are wrestling with loneliness that others would be surprised by. Anxiety, doubt, worry, guilt, shame. We all face something. And I have no authority to assume an intentional wrong motive in another; not especially when the Word tells me I can’t even know my own heart (Jer 17:9).
And so today I choose peace. I choose to extend grace even when they’re undeserving.
Because if I recall correctly, His great grace on my life is undeserved. And in my own pain I am a mistake-maker too.
Today I can offer amazing grace as I remember the weakness through mutual suffering we all share.
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