Grace exceeds circumstances
“God won’t withhold a single good thing from his children. If a thing is good for us, God will give it to us. If it’s not good, he’ll withhold it. And in God’s kindness, he doesn’t allow us to pick and choose what we would like in our lives.
The promises of God are our weapons in the battle against discontentment. For every temptation to be discontent there’s a promise of God that meets that temptation. The abundant grace of God promised in the Scriptures far exceeds any circumstance we encounter.”
– Stephen Altrogge
The Greener Grass Conspiracy
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Every day in October I’m sharing a short quote on grace from a favorite book.
If you’d like to receive the grace quote every day . . .
Umm…I’m not too sure about this one.
Given my present circumstances, with the sometimes rather grotesque level of physical discomfort (and, now other things) that accompany it, if I thought that God had ‘given’this to me, and was withholding healing, I’d be furious.
I believe he’s aghast, and as deeply upset as I am, but that these manifestations are part and parcel of a world in which free will is operative to allow us to choose good over evil, and whose rules even God must obey if the whole thing is to have any meaning.
Where He can and does help is in giving me the strength to deal with the heartbreak of each day, and, hopefully, to reach out to others in the virtual world.
That’s about the limit of the ‘grace’. It’s gone far beyond the point where adversity builds strength,and where one can apply nonsense like “that which does not kill me makes me stronger”. That is the talk of those who have not gone too far down this road. Sometimes adversity simply makes you hard enough to survive it (at least for awhile)…but it doesn’t make you stronger or better. You simply learn what’s expedient, to make it through another day – and often that doesn’t include “nice”.
Case in point – my wife laughs at comedic efforts on television. I can’t even be in the same room. The frivolity takes something from me that I don’t feel I can afford to lose, a hardness of spirit that lets me treat myself – and those around me – with less-than-normal compassion. You push past limits, or you fold and die. In the end you can’t ‘just’ apply this to yourself. It permeates everything. It’s not ‘nice’ to be around.
Rather than stand there with a disapproving glare, I go to the dog area and read. No point in taking something from her.
This is not to say there is no joy in life; far from it. But it’s a fierce and bloody joy. Dogs get it, and that’s why I spend more time with them.
Sorry for the long comment.
Don’t apologize for the long comment, Andrew. I always value what you have to share. You have a unique perspective that most of us don’t.
I certainly don’t think God gave this pain to you either. And frankly, as a parent myself, I don’t even understand why he allows it.
Nonetheless, I admire your faith to know he gives you strength in the heartbreak of each day to still hold on.
Keep sharing, brother. I’m so sorry for your pain. And I do pray for huge measures of grace on your life, whatever that looks like.
“And in God’s kindness, he doesn’t allow us to pick and choose what we would like in our lives.” I so often have to remember this when something I fervently desire for myself or someone I love doesn’t seem to be granted and those things I’d rather not have are. And, in addition, to remind myself that His grace is sufficient for either circumstance.
This, my dear, has been PINNED.
For I so desperately need His grace …
Thanks for the way you keep ministering to my soul.
Sweetest weekend renewals to you, to yours …
I see grace and JOY walking hand-in-hand here, Lisa! I love what Altrogge said about using God’s promises as weapons! Great post!