The journey to find grace doesn't add up to anything if there aren't a few real life circumstances to move it from head to heart. The challenge is not so much letting go and embracing freedom (which can be extremely difficult if you've been accustomed to seeing God as a great dictator up on his throne), but rather when the rubber meets the road - when all that God has revealed collides with the demands, stress, expectations and shame that the world out there starts throwing our way. The safe and warm cocoon where healing took place is exchanged for a wounded world that does not extend grace and mercy the way God intended.
And so, this is where I find myself today.
When the rubber meets the road is when God's word lights our path. Each time the enemy brings condemnation, we overcome by embracing truth. Truth sets us free, but the only way we can know the truth is if we are seeking it out. We may not understand our circumstances, and we may be up against a battle we are too weary to fight, but God promises to fight for us. He promises us that he will never leave us. God is looking at our hearts. His demands are simple: trust and obey. His yoke is easy, his burden light. His expectations are not beyond our reach.
Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." None. Not even a speck. When we fully embrace him, we fully embrace the life of freedom he died to give us. We are not dead in Christ, but we are alive.
I needed to remember that today.
When the rubber meets the road, the Word of God becomes the lamp to my feet, and the light for my path (Psalm 119:105).