Grace for Today

“You know how people say that you forget the pain of childbirth? Well, it’s not true!” Jennifer laughed. “I definitely remember it! And I didn’t think I would be able to bear it.”

Baby Libby cooed, and Jennifer continued, a smile in her voice. “But you know, I didn’t have the grace to go through labor the day before Libby was born. I didn’t even have the grace for it ten minutes before the labor started. But when the moment came, God gave me the strength to get through it. It was hard. It was painful. But I had the grace when I needed it.”

This secret of God’s dispensation of grace at just the right moment is something my friend Jennifer has experienced over and over again the last several years. Her first child, little Libby Anne Hope, was named in honor of Jennifer’s sister, who had died tragically in a car accident seven months earlier. Since then, Jennifer’s had four more children, some with special needs and medical complications. She’s walked through a young son’s chemotherapy treatments for cancer. She’s spent many many nights and days in the emergency room and intensive care unit of hospitals.

And she’ll be the first to say it hasn’t been easy. There have been times of anger, fear, hopelessness, feeling abandoned and forgotten by God. But through it all, she clung to God’s promise – “My grace is sufficient for you” (II Cor 12:8).

Trust God for TODAY

When I look at my future and start worrying about how I’ll be able to handle the hard things that are surely ahead, Jennifer’s words echo in my head. No, I don’t have the grace for the pain of childbirth yet. I don’t have the strength for caring for a sick child, or the fortitude to deal with the grief of a painful loss. Because I’m not there yet.  I have grace for today, I don’t have grace for tomorrow. I don’t have grace for next week. I don’t have grace for 5 minutes from now. Not yet. But I will. When I get there. And not before.

Whatever it is you’re facing, or worrying about, and wondering how on earth you can possibly get through, just know that when you get to that point, the grace will be there. Trust Him for TODAY. And leave tomorrow to His care.

Going Vertical!
MJ

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:34, NIV