Stop Imagining a Grace-less Future — Nicole O'Meara

I was bundled in bed, with legs I couldn’t move, sharing my deepest fears to the friend sitting beside me. We’d been here before, she at my side, listening to my worries while tears ran down my cheeks and ugly fears spilled from my lips. 

Fear and uncertainty were nothing new, they are part of life for people, like me, living with a chronic and undiagnosed disease. Doctors, at least most of mine, see the problem and have compassion for the damage my body has endured. Still, they are limited. Science and technology have not advanced enough to see inside the cells of my body and determine why they do what they do. Even the most curious doctors have been unable to find a diagnosis which means they can’t offer a treatment. Don’t even think about a cure. 

At times, the unanswered questions weigh on me like a heavy darkness. Usually, though, I can lean into God’s sovereingty and faithfulness which is a healing kind of light. God’s character holds my fears at bay. 

On this day, a recent spinal cord injury had brought on a slew of new worries. 

"What if I never walk again?" Words came faster than I could form them. "How can I parent my kids if I can’t drive them to school and lessons or play tag in the backyard? How can my husband work and handle the after-school routine, and groceries, and meals, and still have energy to take care of me?"

At that point, my friend stopped me. I was startled but not afraid. There was no way she was about to lecture me, not this friend. She’s my bosom buddy, my kindred spirit, my Jonathan. So I gave her my full attention. 

"Stop imagining a future without God’s grace in it."

Zing! The words came out of her mouth but I knew they originated in the Holy Spirit.

She was right. I was shuttering away faith built on years of God’s faithfulness to me. God had spared my life a few times already. He had brought me through surgeries, adoption trauma, cross-country moves, and loss. Sometimes, the path he led me on made sense. I could say, "Yes, I agree, this is good." More often, I learned to trust his plan is best even when it doesn’t make sense from where I’m sitting. 

My worries were distracting me from the truth I have learned through trials—God will meet me in my need. He has never failed me. I could depend on God’s grace to get me through.

In 2018, when my lungs broke fantastically and I spent a few months in various ICUs, God provided friends with the time and skills to continue homeschooling my kids, getting them to swim practice, and feeding them dinner. No one went hungry. Everyone slept in a warm bed. Further, and this is just crazy, my husband’s employer blessed him with time, essentially telling him, We’ve got this, just be with your wife. He worked for a small complany with the flexibility to make that call. I couldn’t have seen how all those details would work out, not before it happened. It was only in looking back after I was home that I could see how perfect everything lined up. God’s grace always lines things up perfectly.

Grace is like manna, we need it to survive, but we only get what we need when we need it. But, don’t lose sight of this, God will give us his grace when we need it. Count on it!

God’s grace always meets us where our need is. Just like I couldn’t have seen how things would line up while I was in the hospital, we can’t see how God will meet our future needs. It’s easy to imagine future needs (even if they are unfounded), but we cannot know how God will meet those needs. We can, however, count on him to be with us when we get there and to give us the grace to endure it.

By his grace, we can endure hard things—2 Thess 2:15-17 "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."

By his grace, we are able to take captive our spinning thoughts—2 Cor 10:5 "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."

By his grace, we can do what he has called us to do—Heb 13:20-21 "Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

And best of all, by his grace, we are set free from sin and given Christ’s righteousness so we can stand before our perfect God forever. Oh, the hope for our future!—Eph 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

We need his grace.

So, if you are playing the "what if" game, worrying how you will survive an uncertain future, remember that God’s grace will meet you there. You don’t have to know now how you will make it through. It is enough to know that God will show you the way and give you the grace to walk in it.

REFLECTION

When has God given you grace when you needed it? How does his faithfulness in your past help you face uncertainty in your future?

What worry do you need to surrender to God and ask for faith to count on his grace?

I love sending my subscribers encouragement straight to their inbox, like this list of 12 Verses to Help You Endure. I’d love to send it to you.