ENDURANCE FOR THE JOURNEY

Next Steps: Receive God’s Grace – Fuel for Endurance

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:15-56

I have always had high expectations of myself – never wanting to fail – always wanting to be strong – never weak – earning my success in the game of baseball and in my everyday life.

All that changed when cancer entered my life.  Oh I was strong and performed well at the beginning of my journey of suffering.  But as the journey took me into the wilderness and the days became long and endless, I experienced a weakness of my being that I had never felt before. 

I had a fear of death – I doubted - then shame for my lack of faith.   I experienced frustration over my weakness and my failure to overcome.  This resulted in anger – rage filled fits - then extreme guilt over my sin.  Like Adam in the Garden of Eden, my inclination was to run from God and hide.

BUT … running and hiding from God was not the answer– in order to endure I needed to run to Him and receive His grace even though I felt I had not earned or deserved it.

But God loves who we really are – whether we like it or not.  God calls us, as He did Adam, to come out of hiding.  “Come to me now,” Jesus says.  “Acknowledge and accept who I want to be for you:  a Savior of boundless compassion, infinite patience, unbearable forgiveness, and love that keeps no score of wrongs.  Quit projecting onto me your own feelings about yourself.  At this moment your life is a bruised reed and I will not crush it, a smoldering wick and I will not quench it.  You are in a safe place." Brennan Manning (Abba’s Child)

God’s grace is an incredible source of fuel for endurance.  It encourages us to keep going even when we fall because we know He understands and knows our weaknesses - yet He still loves us.  This was a huge source of fuel for me to continue walking on my journey with Him knowing …

“If we have only the will to walk, then God is pleased with my stumbles.” CS Lewis

Sometimes we are so sick and tired of stumbling that we don’t want to walk anymore.  What a blessing it is to realize that all we need to have is the will to walk with Him, and God is pleased with us – even when we stumble.  That’s an incredible expression of grace.  That is a tremendous motivation to endure.

On the journey with you,

Dave Dravecky