Author Archives: Laurel

Of Slow Starters and Surefire Winners

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I think most of us find that it is difficult to be patient with process, whether we are talking about learning a new skill, remodeling a home, or getting back in shape. Wanting the good results is the easy part, but it’s that one step forward and two back that really tests your resolve to persevere. The number of abandoned projects and piles of new equipment gathering dust out there attest to that fact. Peter the Disciple was a live-in-the-moment kind of guy, knew what it was like to be wired that way– big on excitement and not so much on follow-through. So it is remarkable to read his letters to the Christ-followers living in the outer reaches of the Roman Empire and see his big-picture viewpoint, hear him urging them to keep their eyes fastened on who they are and where they are headed.

Maybe that was his secret, that at some point he did learn to stop looking at the waves,and start looking at his Savior’s hand outstretched instead. When you take your eyes off the immediate circumstances and the swell of emotions that crash all around, start focusing on the One who is walking with you, your perspective enlarges dramatically. You can say things like, “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.” (1 Peter 1:6)  The grief of this world is still very present and real, but so is the “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:4-5) As a Christ-follower, the saving grace in life is that you are not trying to get it done in your own strength and self-discipline. Literally. Our life in Christ is wrapped up in His saving grace from beginning to end. And when you grow weary of one more day, and discouraged about your progress, you can rest in that grace that carries you, look forward to the glorious future He purchased, and not give up. Peter was very aware of his own weaknesses– that’s why in his letter he emphasizes how salvation belongs to God and is not dependent on our efforts. It was the Father’s grand plan from the very Beginning, accomplished through the death and resurrection of the Son and the sanctifying work of the Spirit in the hearts of those who believe. It is vitally important to Peter that he lay this out clearly because only on this firm and unchanging foundation can his faith and ours rest secure.

Peter goes so far as to say that persevering in the everyday process is what proves a person’s faith is real. He knew from experience how emotions are not trustworthy guides for a walk of faith. High on the excitement of a miracle or caught up in the passion of a big event, it was easy for him to claim large faith, or propose action. But the same emotion that swells has its counterbalancing downswing, and he also knew the pendulum-swing of failure and rebuke and shame. The emotions will never be enough to make you strong, carry you through; what really matters most is the foundation you are acting on when the fireworks of emotion die down– what you do next.


So Peter can write to these believers (with the authority of one who has learned the hard way) that real faith hangs onto the eternal things that are True, no matter what: “You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9) When you know the Most High has gone to such lengths to claim you as His “…special possession….has called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9), you can rest assured that perseverance in living out your faith will result in the happy ending that God intends for you.

And to all of us, I hear Peter saying: be patient with the process. Learn to see God at work in it. Wrestle with what it means to “live as God’s obedient children” (1 Peter 1:14) and practice living out His holiness in everyday things. Don’t be too quick to look for escapes and quick fixes. Listen more to His Word and His Spirit instead of your emotions. Long for growth, soak up every bit of nourishment you can get, so that you will grow strong and healthy inside. And be patient with what He is working out in you, for “when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Peter 1:7) God did it for Peter, and He can do it for you. .

I heard a wise teacher say once that our transformation, our healing, our growth will take one day longer than we live in these bodies. Hang in there, then, and be patient, because ” In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” (1 Peter 1:3-4) This is worth waiting for.

“So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world….For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”

1 Peter 1:13, 23


“Most of our healings will be experienced through the relatively slow processes with which God wonderfully and wisely equips our bodies. And most of our deliverances will be experienced through the relatively slow (at times frustratingly so) processes with which God wonderfully and wisely equips our minds and souls — replacing habitual responses of belief in deceptive promises and condemning accusations with habitual responses of faith in the true promises and gracious acceptance of God.”


Jon Bloom


Out of the Darkness and into the Light

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Lately I keep circling back around to this one big question: What does it mean to live as children of light, in this dark world? And it seems like the central question all of us Christ-followers should be asking, in simple everyday ways. How does a mother shine Light on the third toddler-tantrum of the day, when she is running on not-enough sleep? How does a hurting heart step into Light, bring God’s truth to bear on those wounds and find healing and forgiveness? How does Light clear out the dark corners of my heart where selfishness and anger tend to settle in? What does a Child of Light look like in an office cubicle?…In a marriage?…In differences of perspective and opinion?

You wouldn’t expect a fisherman-turned-preacher like Peter to have very profound ideas on the subject, but it turns out that he was used to asking that question, ever since he got it profoundly wrong one terrible night. Once you let your fears swing the door wide open to betrayal and anger and lies, and the darkness almost swallows you whole, you realize how powerful those small choices can be– how quickly you can find yourself lost on the wrong path. Maybe there’s a sense in which you can’t really learn to consistently walk in the light until you have looked hard into the face of your own darkness. Peter learned the hard way too, how walking in the light might look more difficult in the moment, but it is actually the most freeing thing you will ever do. So he faced his fear and his failure and found forgiveness over breakfast on the beach with Jesus, and began teaching others what he was learning: that the closer you are to Jesus, the more everything makes sense in His Light.

So Peter can say with the authority of someone who has leaned into the subject that the way to walk as a child of the light is to focus on all that God has done for you– stand on that foundation of salvation and rejoice in it, let it make you strong. And it is more than just looking forward to a happy ending someday. It’s embracing your new identity as His child, and allowing that to rewrite your story in the present. As Peter writes to the believers under siege, “In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” (1 Peter 1:3)

We may be waiting for that rich inheritance to come, but Peter says our hope is alive in Jesus, and we live in Him. We are already living in eternity, in the presence of the Spirit of God, with abundant resources for each day. “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 1:3) This is why we can trust Him, why we do what He tells us, how we can keep on walking through the hard things and the grief that overwhelms, because the Almighty King of Heaven walks with us as a Friend and we “…are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…” (1 Peter 1:8) Every experience Peter had as one of Jesus’ disciples was a lesson learned, another mile on his faith-journey. Both the good and the bad were growing him into the person God always intended him to be: someone who could walk in the Light and lead others in knowing God. When you understand the depths of your salvation and what the Savior is doing in your life, it changes the way you handle everything, including the hard times.

What does it mean to walk as children of light? Peter would probably rephrase the question for us: How would you act if you knew you were deeply loved, known, set aside for God’s purposes? Hmm…I’m guessing you would act a lot more like Jesus did.

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In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.


(1 Peter 1:6-7)

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Thank You for the wilderness
Where I learned to thirst for Your presence
If I’d never known that place
How could I have known You are better?
Thank You for the lonely times
When I learned to live in the silence
As the other voices fade
I can hear You calling me, Jesus
And it’s worth it all just to know You more

Great Things, Elevation Worship

Grace is the One Word You Need Most

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I look around this small group as they talk about how life turned out differently than they thought it would, this past year, see the unspoken sorrows and unexpected joy in the paths they have walked. And we try to put into One Word our goal for the New Year, knowing full well that we do not know what lies ahead, only that the One who goes with us has already provided what we need. It is His promise to us, from the pen of the Church-planter Paul: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

This we can trust, that no matter what word we choose, our loving Father will be working in it and through it, both for our benefit and for His glory. This is His bountiful Grace, to walk amid our days and soften the sharp edges, lift up the weary head, light up the dark places. Grace is the biggest and best word He will give to meet us when we offer up this year to Him. That One Word became flesh and blood in the person of Christ Jesus, so that we could see for ourselves what Grace looked like in this everyday world. Nothing will take Him by surprise in this year, and nothing will take Him from our sides. So we will be okay, whatever comes. Because the Good Shepherd calls us by name and leads us on.

May we only be faithful to follow.

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“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9)

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“You don’t need to be perfect; you need to simply feel His perfect love. You don’t need to be in control; you need to simply be in Christ. You don’t need to be more because He is all you need.”
(Ann VosKamp)

A Starting Place

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To all those who are beginning the New Year hesitantly, already feeling a bit like the walking-wounded and wondering if you have the strength or courage for what may come– Jesus speaks blessing over you. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:3-5) Because you of all people know that this world cannot satisfy your heart. You are already looking for a Light on the horizon, hungry for more than the way things are. And Jesus says you are on the right path, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) You are learning the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, that the real treasures are things you can only see with the eyes of faith.

So bring your tears, and your fears, and all your questions, here at the start of a New Year. Hold them out to Jesus with both hands and let Him take them, so that your hands are empty and outstretched….ready for something new. A friend reminded me the other day that a person isn’t really ready to change unless he is a little bit desperate. It’s true, you know, that until our longing for something better outweighs our fear of letting go, our hands remain clenched on what we treasure– and I know a good many people who are hauling around buckets of dirt as if they were gold. So just give them up, here on the first page of the calendar; empty your hands and join the ranks of the humble, the heart-hungry, the longing…all those who can find true riches. They are singing the song of the Musician-King: “Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise you as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods….On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.” (Psalm 63:3-6)

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“Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)

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“Oh Love that will not let me go,
My soul will rest in You alone.
I give you back this life I owe,
To know you Jesus more and more.”
(I Love You, Lord, Elevation Worship)

Christmas in the Desert

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The season of Advent is good news for anyone looking for change: to all the weary, the grieving, the neglected, the broken of the world, God speaks through the prophet “Comfort, comfort My people…” (Isaiah 40:1), and Jesus echoes “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted….Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:3-6) It is the needy who are looking for something good– not the ones who are already satisfied– and God promises that good will come to them if they are looking in the right places. The very word Advent means arrival; the answer to all God’s promises is coming at last in the birth of the Christ Child. Isn’t it obvious how the whole hungry world waits in anticipation? “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)

The Christmas Story begins in the wilderness, like all the best stories do. Everyone loves tales of the downtrodden overcoming obstacles, and good triumphing over evil, and the heroes that bring happy endings. When we enter Advent, and begin to prepare our hearts for the birth of the Savior, it is the prophets in the desert places that we hear first: “A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God..… the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.” (Isaiah 40:3,5) It isn’t until you are in the dark that you long for a ray of light to break through– not till you find yourself in the wilderness that you search for the way to go. And the prophet Isaiah is proclaiming the joyful news: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light….” (Isaiah 9:2)

In the darkest of times, over hundreds of years, when people had forgotten what mattered most, the prophets pointed to the coming Messiah: “You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout…say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!'” (Isaiah 40:9) This is the good news, that God Himself is coming to us, and He will bring healing and renewal. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert…” (Isaiah 35:5-6) The prophet almost sings for the wonder of it, that all those dry and difficult places will be nothing more than opportunities to reveal God’s glory and power in our lives. Of course, one could say that this story actually started in the Garden in the Beginning, a seed planted by the Creator, and that would be true as well. One of Jesus’ followers verified that this was God’s intention all along: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind….and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1,4-5)

In the lights and glitter and busy-ness of the holidays you are liable to feel out of place if you are grieving, if you are desperately waiting for answers, if your life is in turmoil for whatever reason. But God is whispering comfort and hope to His people. Here in the beginning of Advent it is okay to be in a wilderness place. I can wait patiently for God’s answers and anticipate His power at work in my life. I can prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth– His arrival– with joy, because I already know how this story ends. The wilderness is just waiting to be transformed in His hands. Jesus has proven Isaiah’s words to be completely true: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners….” (Isaiah 61:1) Blessed are the ones who need Him the most, for He has come to be our Savior.

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“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11)

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“When we are willing to watch and wait in the darkness until the Light comes — we practice being willing to sit with brokenness until resurrection comes.” (Ann VosKamp)

The Method in This Madness

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I can’t even count the number of times someone has said to me, “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” as if the saying of it would magically cut the situation down to size, or at least bolster their flagging spirits enough to overcome.  And I really hate to burst the bubble, but the fact is that every day Christ-followers face circumstances that are too big, too much, too overwhelming for any sane mind. Chemo that makes you weak and nauseous. Spouses that break faith. Babies that come too early. Pain that wakes you up at night and hounds you during the day. Children with seizures. Raging fires that swallow up whole towns. Three-year-olds with tempers the size of Wyoming, and teenagers that are bent on doing life their own way. Siblings that act like you are the enemy. Parents that cannot live on their own any more. The power of addiction. The dark valley of grief.

If we are honest, there is a whole world of things that we cannot control, and that leave us feeling rather helpless and confused about what to do next. And yeah, telling myself that I can handle this because God gave it to me really doesn’t help. Since when is He in the habit of limiting Himself to my own small resources?

Jesus never spoke as one delivering self-help goals– or even inspiring ideals. In fact, Paul admits freely that the gospel does not make sense to the human mind: “…the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) Jesus’ teachings were life-changing and difficult, and He understood that He was turning the world upside-down for the sake of Heaven’s reality. And yet Jesus meant for us to take Him at His word, to put into practice what He taught us. 

And I can hear the echoes of all His impossible-seeming standards: “…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44)…. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)….”Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)….”Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”(James 1:2). There’s not a one of them that I can handle, no matter how much I psych myself out about being a new creature. Oh I can fake it for awhile…put my best foot forward and be the saint people expect to see. Or I can rationalize that these are  good things to strive for but maybe not meant for everyday life. Or I can even dodge a sense of failure by comparing myself to those around me, rather than to the standards that measure me short. But when life really gets tough the only way to handle anything is just to come running to Jesus and confess very honestly that this is too much for me. 

That is exactly the point, and the answer is right there after all: “If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) A long time ago, someone’s well-meaning emphasis on productivity gave me the idea that Jesus was talking about the work of ministry here…good works and what you can accomplish for eternity. Focusing on what we can do for Jesus is probably a good motivational tool, but I have found that His power, His presence is actually what I need for Life itself.

It’s more than knowing what resources to turn to, when I run out. It’s letting God make me new on the inside, choosing to rely on Him instead of myself, trusting that He knows what is best in all those impossible things. It’s living out the truth that the Church-planter Paul talked about: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2-3) 

Maybe all those situations I can’t handle and all those big commands are supposed to be just that impossible, because God isn’t looking to hand out super-charged batteries to help me accomplish what I want to do. He wants to live in me with His resurrection power, to accomplish what He wants to do. So when I can’t figure it out myself, or make things happen with my own strength and determination, then there’s nothing left to do but draw on God’s strength and seek His face, and I am right where I should be. His promise still stands: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) 

He knows that the best way to live is in utter dependence on the Christ who has already overcome– the One who made you and loves you with an everlasting love– and in Him you can do all these impossible things.

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“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

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“Give me faith to trust what You say,
That You’re good and Your love is great;
I’m broken inside, I give You my life,
‘Cause I may be weak
But Your Spirit’s strong in me.
My flesh may fail;
My God You never will.”
(Give Me Faith, Elevation Worship)

Of Forgiveness and Faith

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We have been talking about forgiveness from the perspective of obedience, as the right choice of any serious Christ-follower. As the natural outflow of the Grace that forgives us. And it is, unquestionably. But from another angle, you could just as easily call it an act of faith.

It takes faith to look beyond the hurtful situation to see all the ways it might change if we can be brave and work through this together. We need faith to remind us that we are not stuck in our weaknesses– we are all growing up under the Spirit’s care, and it is never too late to change. Faith has the eyes to see that God is at work, even here, and hope for what good things He will accomplish. It hangs onto the promise, “And we know in all things, God is working for the good of those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Faith is the missing piece that transforms forgiveness from spiritual discipline into a fresh start.

So here I stand before You, God, and say “I do believe; help me to overcome my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) I can trust You to be strength for me in the relationships that are hard for me, and to carry the feelings that are too much for me. Give me enough faith to keep praying for the person who wounds, to keep throwing resentment away and embracing the Cross of Jesus, and He is saying“The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17b)  Help me to believe everything You say about me.

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All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

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“You say I am loved,
When I can’t feel a thing.
You say I am strong;
When I think I am weak;
You say I am held,
When I am falling short;
When I don’t belong,
You say I am Yours.
And I believe…
I believe,
What You say of me.”

(You Say, Lauren Daigle)

Where Jesus Is

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In wilderness places when it’s hard to make it through the day, sometimes the biggest battle is in your head. Because in the desert, the Enemy’s voice whispers loud, and there is no rest from the scouring wind and scorching sun. The sand keeps shifting beneath your feet until you begin to forget that there is a rock-solid Truth underneath it all…seems easier to listen to the voice saying that you are not enough, and that you better take what you need any way you can get it because no one else is watching out for you. The way to get lost in the wilderness is to listen to the constant refrain that where you are is all there is ever going to be.

But David the Musician knew the wilderness long before he became King, and he is singing out of the desert , “O God…I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1) He knew that the only way to survive the harsh barren places was to turn his eyes on the One who gives Living Water…the One who is beautiful beyond measure. “I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” (verses 2-4) You can focus on all that you lack in the seemingly endless days, or you can focus on the Giver of all things, like a compass-point to steer by and know that eventually you will end up safely Home. “I cling to You; Your right hand upholds me.” (v.8) It is the first choice of every day, the last before you lay your head down at night; even when no one else can hear, and you feel like you are all alone. “On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.” (verse 6) This is Wilderness Survival 101.

And yeah, maybe the Enemy knows all the right buttons to push, because I am most assuredly not enough for any of this…but in the middle of all I cannot control and everything I cannot fix, and the obvious shortage of wisdom and patience and strength in me, still the Spirit of the Lord who conquered death and sin is alive in me, and I am not alone. “Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings.” (verse 7) 

Just hold on tight and take the next step, one after another, and don’t be afraid to hurl the everlasting Truth defiantly into the face of the storm.

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“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’” (Lamentations 3:21-24)

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“Can’t go back to the beginning,
Can’t control what tomorrow will bring,
But I know here in the middle
Is the place where You promise to be.

I’m not enough unless You come;
Will you meet me here again?
Cause all I want is all You are;
Will You meet me here again?

As I walk now through the valley,
Let Your love rise above every fear;
Like the sun shaping the shadow,
In my weakness Your glory appears…

Not for a minute
Was I forsaken;
The Lord is in this place,
The Lord is in this place.

Come Holy Spirit–
Dry bones awaken;
The Lord is in this place,
The Lord is in this place.”
(Here Again, Elevation Worship)

A Debtor to Grace

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It means a great deal to us that God’s love comes no strings attached– matters greatly that the love of the Father is unconditional, if only because love like that is so hard to find. The people we care about have immense power to harm us, precisely because they can pull their love out from under us in the turn of a word, smash our hearts into a billion little pieces. Relationships are terrifyingly fragile, for all that we treat them like fortresses. The worst of it is, we know we aren’t good enough, can’t always measure up to people’s expectations and wishes, and it is only a matter of time before they find out who we really are and what if they leave? I wonder how much of life is our trying to be enough to deserve the affection we desire. But God is different than that. “…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) It is the very picture of love undeserved.

And yet, our understanding of what God’s love means gets a little fuzzy in everyday use. Somehow no strings attached translates as no demands in our thinking, until we get to feeling like we are pretty lucky to have this great gift and still be able to pursue a good life by winning people’s approval….it’s like having the best of both worlds, and at least this is one relationship we might not have to put effort into. But while unconditional love may mean that there’s nothing I can do to gain more or less of it, it does not necessarily follow that unconditional love will not require something of me. Love doesn’t have strings that manipulate, but it very definitely has ties that bind; and although God doesn’t require me to do anything to earn His love, still I will be working gladly to honor that great gift for the rest of my life. Anything less would disrespect the Giver.

Grace means that God accepts me right where I am, knowing full well that I am not enough and can never measure up. But He is not about to leave me in that sorry state. As Paul explained it to the first believers, “God knew what He was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him. After God made that decision of what His children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name. After He called them by name, He set them on a solid basis with Himself. And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun.” (Romans 8:29, The Message) That is a pretty big agenda, and not optional, much to my frequent surprise.

So from the moment of my adoption He was already working to change my life. Grace is a relieved freedom from trying to get somewhere on my own, but it is hardly freedom to do what I like. God’s love allows me to become who I was always meant to be, and that person was designed and created by Him to be whole and healed and beautiful in Jesus’ light: alive with His love, His joy, His peace, His patience, His kindness, His goodness, His faithfulness, His gentleness, His self-control. It costs me nothing to receive, but it will cost everything to live it out.

And we will not regret it even a little.

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God gives you grace and acceptance before you overcome your sin.
Because it’s His grace and acceptance that let you overcome your sin.

You don’t overcome your brokenness to have God’s love.
It’s God’s love that has you overcoming your brokenness. (Ann VosKamp)

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“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)

Not Wasted At All

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Sometimes I think we are looking at all the wrong things when we read the story Jesus told about the two brothers and their father. Even the title is indicative of our slant– the name prodigal son is wasted on the younger brother, because although he certainly was all about wasting his inheritance, that is hardly the point of the story. I mean, as long as we go on seeing him only as disrespectful and irresponsible we can shake our heads and agree that it is hard to forgive people who make a mess of everyone’s lives and come back looking for grace. Call the older brother offended (as we would certainly be at our sibling’s behavior)…even call him unforgiving or jealous; better yet, point out that the father best deserves the name prodigal as he pours out his love and grace– wastes it without regard for justice on the one who has wronged him. But let the boy’s situation hit our hearts squarely in all its raw need: “So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” (Luke 15:15-16)

The younger brother is better understood in the context of the other two stories Jesus told to the crowds. His is the third– the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son– and in the first two we are hearing it from the perspective of those who have lost something of value, so it is right when we come to the third to see the grief of the Father over everything that has been destroyed by his son’s bad choices. After all, these are parables, simple memorable stories intended to teach a moral lesson to those who listen. But this time we get a window into what it is like to be the one lost. And we see a boy who is desperate, alone, hear how broken is his pride and how ready to admit that he needs his father’s love and forgiveness, even if he doesn’t deserve it. If we are going to understand forgiveness, we need to see things from the younger son’s perspective, and feel his pain when he cries out, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son…” (Luke 15:18-19)

Because I suspect that you can’t really understand forgiving someone else until you know what it means to long for forgiveness yourself, to hunger and thirst for that righteousness that wipes away shame and guilt…until you can weep with King David: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1) Any concept you have of forgiveness is likely to be more intellectual (and pretty anemic) until you have seen the blood on your own hands, and faced the dark closets in your own soul, prostrated yourself before God: “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7) You can be sure that David was not reciting any formula or just doing what was expected of him when he pleaded “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.” (Psalm 51:8-9) on the deathbed of his infant son. Only such a gifted musician could have written melody for the agony of a father bearing the guilt of his son’s death. And only those who have received grace know its life-giving power to people lost in the dark.

The parable of the two brothers and their father is above all a story to teach God’s prodigal grace. And although we might be tempted to look at the two brother’s achievements and name one more deserving than the other, the Father’s love and grace pours out on both extravagantly, unhindered by our measurements and unconcerned by our ideas of fairness. Grace isn’t grace unless it is undeserved, and grace is never wasted– just ask anyone who knows their need. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

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“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.” (Psalm 63:1-3)

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“There’s a place where sin and shame
Are powerless;
Where my heart has peace with God
And forgiveness;
Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood,
Comes flowing down.
At the cross, at the cross,
I surrender my life–
I’m in awe of You…”
(At The Cross, Chris Tomlin)