Be still - grace and love

Be still before the Lord - just be still. My heart rejoices at that. At the fact that all he requires is for me is to be still. Out of our love for him comes trust, and trust manifested in our lives is simply a still heart. I cling to that as I live and breath and face the troubles of a fallen human race - when facing our shattered hearts.

    I choose to be still. I choose to listen, to open my heart and my mind and allow God’s love to flow over me. I wait, and I feel a peace begin to wash over me. My heart is renewed.

    It’s so easy to be caught up in the mistakes of this world, to lose sight of the beauty of God and his divine hand gently carrying us along. It’s so easy to forget that God understands all of my own failings, as well as those of others. As I do what scripture tells us -  “Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced...” Psalm 105:5 - as I remember just as commanded I get new insight. I recall the judgements he pronounced - and realize they were grace. I realize that the loving Father led his children of Israel through miracles and blessings - even when they didn’t deserve it. And I take a breath and let this grace overwhelm. How much grace has he given me? How many mistakes did he cover over with his love and mercy?

    And I remember the greatest commandment - love. Just love. That’s all he asks, just love and all else will fall into place. I remember that this is what I’m really living for. It’s not justice. It’s love. And as I realize that everything else is miniscule in relation to this divine and wonderful calling to love and to give grace in abundance. It’s when you allow this love and grace to dwell in your spirit that you can see the problems in this life in the light that God sees them.

    The mistakes of others against you are the hardest to meet with grace. Harder still when the offender is unaware or unbending in their faults. This is the time to be still. This is the time to put Christ on the throne by loving him and loving that person. When I come face to face with my own mistakes - ones I’ve had in the past, ones I struggle with now, and ones I know I am unaware of - I am overwhelmed by this amazing grace. All that is left to do is simply to realize that others are on the same journey as you are, and they fall and stumble over the rocky path just like you do.

    I am an incredibly clumsy person at times. I’m always hitting my head, amazingly I don’t have tons of concussions, and continue to hope that one of these days I’ll knock in some sense instead of out. I trip and stumble. It’s a brilliant picture of life. I stumble and fall all the time. I’m honestly a bit of a mess. But I look up, and all I see is grace. And my heart stops racing, and I’m still.

    As I consider the pain, rejection, injustices, and cruelties we experience it makes me want to go out and fix it. To go out swinging and fighting for what I believe in. But those feelings only last until I remember the road we’re all on, the fight we’re all fighting, and the grace we’re all breathing. Looking up into the eyes of love and grace, the fight goes out of me and my desire changes. It becomes like his.

        Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing (1 Thessalonians 5:11)    

When love rules you, when grace is all you see, when you truly understand how God picks you up each day - that is when you start seeing others mistakes and failings as them stumbling and all that is left is to reach out and help them back up.

    Loving others and giving them loads of grace - that is just a part of discovering true grace and love. And when your heart gets to experience that for just a moment - you are that much closer to feeling the love and grace of God. For just a moment - be still.