His Grace Covers Me

     The emotions are lying under the surface.  I feel them.  I know they are making their way up to exposure.  It's been an enduring week.  Things are swirling around in the atmosphere of our lives here.  My husband's had some meetings this week with people in our church body.  I've had conversations with hurting people.  My dad was diagnosed yesterday with an incurable lung disease. 

     People I care about are struggling in deep places in their lives.  I feel the weight of the enduring days on this earth, in my own life and in the lives of those around me.   Things are not what they were meant to be.  We have come so far from the Garden of Eden and the perfect life that He envisioned for us.  This is not what He wanted it to be.  None of these things were in His original picture.  Yet it's where life has taken us.

     I ache for those who are hurting.  I know He aches too.  He is allowing me to feel a little more of His heart today.  It is the fellowship of His suffering that Philippians 3:10 talks of.  I can't fix any of the things I've seen this week.  I hurt with those who are hurting.  How He must ache for those who are wrestling with this world.  Even still I know, with His grace, He covers it all.  

     

     Graham Cooke once spoke these words;  "There are no longer good days and bad days.  There are only days of grace.  Some days you are given the grace to enjoy what is going on and other days you are given the grace to endure."

      I look around and see enduring days in the lives of people around me.  I see it many days in my own life. Marriages are falling apart, teenagers are hurting, sickness invades homes, financial strain is upon many. Some days it takes all there is within me to hang on and walk in hope.   

     I remember when my children were young.   I would go to tuck them into their beds before retiring to my own. Often their covers had been thrown off exposing their bodies to the chill of the night.  They were oblivious to the fact. With comfort and care, I would spread their blankets back over them. Tucking them into the warmth, tenderly kissing their little cheeks, I would whisper into their ears, "I love you."  They lay there unconscious to my presence. Though they were unaware, still I was there.

     As I feel and see the uncertainties of life surrounding me and the people I love, I think of His grace that blankets us all. He envelops us as we wrestle with the thorns and thickets of this life. He comes even when we are unaware and gathers us in under His grace.  He tenderly kisses our cheeks and whispers, "I love you". He will never leave us or forsake us.  He is ever present. With His grace He covers you, me, everything.

     We don't know the prognosis of my dad's illness at this moment. I feel Papa God's arms enfolding me as I wait.  HE is my comfort.  He blankets me with His presence and tucks me away in Him.  He IS the God of all comfort.  No longer are there good days or bad days.  There are only days of grace and grace covers everything.

     What about you?  What days of grace are you seeing; enduring days or enjoying days?  Can you see His grace surrounding you?  Even when you are unaware, He's still there tucking you into Him. Feel the warmth as He surrounds you with Himself.  Know that He leans in close, kisses your cheek and tells you once more of how deeply you are loved. 

    "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  II Corinthians 12:9

Jewelz

©copyrighted:  2008 Julie L. Todd