Grace for the Process

Wanted to hop on here and share with you a prayer Papa laid on my heart yesterday. It's a prayer I believe if we all prayed it, there would be a fountain of grace flowing more freely in the body of Christ.

I am not saying there is a lack of grace on heaven's part, but I think we have to be mindful that we have freely received grace for ourselves and it's time to freely give it to others as well. We need to be grace givers, not just grace receivers.

In life we are going to have conflict with others. Misunderstandings and offense are inevitable. Unless you live with your head in a hole, it's going to happen. I am at a point in my life where I want to use each opportunity to grow and become more like my Papa. Instead of avoiding or running from difficult situations, I want to meet them head on, in a spirit of love and grace. This is what I refer to as process. I am in process and everyone I come into contact with is in process...some are embracing the process and others are running from it:)

Graham Cooke refers to people in our lives that are difficult, needy or abrasive as grace growers. I have some grace growers in my life and I am sure you do too. Boundaries are necessary with your grace growers, but it's important not to completely shut them out because by doing so you will miss a wonderful opportunity to "grow in the Lord."

When we take offense and pick up our toys and move elsewhere we are just setting ourselves up to be introduced to more grace growers. He will continue to give us opportunity to grow up. It doesn't matter if the environment is different, the process is the same. Truth is, when we move, our junk goes with us...the same areas that need His touch and healing don't go away with new territory...you might as well deal with them where you are and save yourself some time and additional heartache!

For example, maybe you have a pattern of having issues with your boss. You think changing jobs is the solution, only to find the same issues surfacing within a few months in your new environment. Could it be possible, perhaps, YOU have an issue...maybe with authority? We can't control other people and we are only responsible for ourselves...so, take a look in the mirror. Allow Holy Spirit to shine His light on YOUR heart. Ask yourself the hard question...could I be part of the problem? Work on changing YOU and watch what God will do in your environments. It doesn't mean you won't have issues, but you will have His perspective and handling them with a goal toward solution will be possible with heaven backing you up!

So, the prayer He gave me was simply this, "Papa, help me to give myself grace in my process and give me grace for others in their process as well."

Yes, grace for my own process is important, because I have a tendency to beat myself up when I handle things less than "perfect." He isn't mad at me, therefore, I shouldn't be mad at myself. Who doesn't need more grace?

The day I realized I was trying to make people earn the grace I received for free was a day MY SOUL truly learned how to SING!

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