God's grace...

            I recently watched a video on the "grace of God". In this video the young preacher played a video to illustrate his point on God's unmerited, undeserved favour. The video was about a young handicapped man who entered numerous marathons and triathlons, yet, he could not even walk. How did he accomplish this task? His father used various pieces of equipment to carry him while the father himself actually did the races. 
            Now, this young man became handicapped as a baby when the umbilical cord got wrapped around his neck. He suffered brain damage and therefore never walked or talked in his life. They, however, developed a machine to enable him to express what he wanted to say. One day he told his father he wanted to enter a marathon and so his father trained in preparation for the marathon. At the end of that marathon the father asked his son how he felt and he replied that it was the first time in his life that he did not feel handicapped. From that time on they entered together many marathons and even triathlons. Triathlons by the way, include swimming, cycling and running for miles. While his father swam he pulled his son in a raft behind him. While he ran, he pushed him in a chair with wheels and while he rode his bike, his son rode with him in a chair attached to the front of the bike.            
            As I watched this video of this father carrying, pushing and pulling his son through these events, tears streamed profusely down my face. Even before the preacher said it at the end of that video, I too saw myself as the handicapped man being pushed, pulled and carried by my Heavenly Father. That man did all that for his son, God has done and is still doing so much more for me. As I prayed at the end of watching that video, with tears still streaming down my face, I had to thank God for pushing, pulling and carrying me through this life. I acknowledged to Him that I was that handicapped man. I too needed and still desperately need God in my life.
            How about you? God sacrificed so much just for you. God pushes you, pulls you, carries you, picks you up no matter how many times you fall. And yet, so many times we take God for granted. We're not thankful. We're distracted by the cares and concerns of this life, by dreams that are not yet fulfilled, by plans that have not yet been been realised, by the struggles that we face, by the hurt and heartache we sometimes feel. Yet, while all these things, understandably so, are distracting us and even handicapping us, as we sit in our wheelchairs and feel sorry for ourselves and complain and criticise, God is right there sometimes behind us pushing us, sometimes in front of us pulling us, sometimes we're in His arms and He is carrying us. God has not gone anywhere. He's right there. So what if God doesn't work things out the way you want? It just means that He has something so much better in store for you. Today, will you let go of your hopes, your dreams, your desires of HOW you want God to do certain things in your life and of  what you want the end result of that situation to be and just let God be God and have HIS way? It's about surrender, it's not about fighting to have your way. It's about trusting that God will NEVER give you anything less than His best for you. He's got you, and He's big enough to handle you and ALL that concerns you. Trust His way, NOT yours!
            

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