Grace
A virtue coming from God. Merriam-Webster
“Girls, – one at a time,” I pleaded while the dog darted from the room with a box corner in tow. (Anything remotely paper-like …it’s ridiculous.)
“DDDAAAADDDDD!!!!!! POCKET KNIFE!!!!” my youngest demanded. (Everything must be sprung free from all restrictive packaging immediately.)
“Lauren,” her big sis noted, “you just opened two in a row, it’s my turn.”
The New Year brings change, some planned, some swift. Resolutions that are well-calculated goals, and struggles that are desperately lifted up. Like a youthful Christmas morning, it’s hard to maintain composure throughout the changes of heart, or shifts in life’s direction. But grace can be maintained when intentions are drafted in the right light.
Impatient Assembly
Christ is there when the aim to achieve is beyond our ability to reach.
“Dad!” my six-year-old demanded, “please put my Lego castle together.”
Legos still send me into a tantrum. We all have our “Legos” don’t we? The things we know need to be put together, but lack the execution required to admire a finished product.
Patience must be fostered into maturity. Only the Creator, Himself can snap a resolution into fruition. Do we realize the pieces that are dumped out onto the table when we aim to grow? Our Father is astute to the steps He drafted.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” 1 Thes. 5:28
Grace exudes wisdom. It doesn’t throw a half-assembled Lego tower across the room because a step was skipped. Wise people know that serves no purpose.
Lauren trusts her Dad to assemble what she cannot, because she’s seen him do it before.
God-gifted, by Jesus’ death on the cross, grace allows inquire upon God to calm reactions beyond our control.Wisdom is born from the release of our expectations into the hands of His guidance.
Patient Assembly
My oldest daughter, graduated from watching and helping her dad, now follows hundreds of steps to put thousands of tiny little blocks together.
“Do you know the best advice that Daddy ever gave me on building Legos?” she replied to my amazement, “He told me to make sure it was facing the same way as the picture in the directions.”
Grace in the face of a frustrating process is a gift to behold.
Paul reaches out through ancient words to bless hearts budged by the Holy Spirit. We won’t be fully assembled until we embrace our Father in heaven. Grace is not an automatic setting we can activate without the love of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The pressure is off. We’re not dysfunctional, we’re just not capable …alone.
Before setting resolutions beyond what we’re crafted to achieve, let’s ask the Father to guide our resolve. Dreams are pieces of God’s destiny. Waypoints along each illumined path. God can be trusted with our assembly.
Look back on this past year and revel in the blocks He’s built, or dumped back onto the table to be reassembled. God is not looking to change us into different, more ‘compliant’ people. He’s looking to cover what we can’t handle with grace.
I resolve to receive the full scope of God’s grace in 2017. How about you?
Happy 2017! #greatgrace17
Megs
This post may be linked up with the following amazing writer’s:
Mondays…Mommy Moments , Modest Monday, Open Mic Monday, Soul Survival, Homemaking Mondays, Good Morning Mondays, Make Your Home Sing, Inspire Me Monday , Motivation Monday , Motivational Monday, Over the Moon, Thank Goodness it’s Monday, Inspire Me Monday
Tuesdays…#RaRaLinkUp, Testimony Tuesday , Tuesday Talk , God Sized Dreams, Tell Me a True Story, Together on Tuesdays, Create Link Inspire Party, Let’s be Friends Blog Hop, Totally Terrific Tuesday, Turn in Up Tuesday, Twinkly Tuesday,
Wednesdays…#TellHisStory, OhMyHeartsieGirls, Coffee for Your Heart, From Messes to Messages, Wordless Wednesday, Amanda’s Books and More Linky, Coffee and Conversation,Wow Me Wednesday,Wine’d Down Wednesday,
Thursdays…Thought Provoking Thursday, Live Free Thursday, Sincerely, Paula, Heart Encouragement , Think Tank Thursday,
Fridays…Faith Filled Friday, Dance with Jesus, Friendship Friday, High Five for Friday,
Saturdays… Saturday Sparks, Dare to Share, Our Mini Linky Party, Saturday Sharefest
God is so good, I often forget to give God what I can’t handle– this is great! Thanks
Love the analogy of the Lego’s. Happy New Year!
Thank you, friend! Happy New Year!
Such a great analogy- if Legos get you going, try Metal Earth models sometime- you’ll have a whole new analogy and outlook on grace, haha : ) No judgement here, I’m with you! Thanks for the fresh outlook and imagery for grace. I really loved this point: “We’re not dysfunctional, we’re just not capable …alone.”
Many thanks! Isn’t it amazing what we can glean from grace by assembling things! Happy Monday!
Oh how much I love grace. Seriously. It was my word of the year last year, and even though I picked a new word this year, I’m not letting go of GRACE!
So grateful He knows all the pieces (even the ones that get lost on the floor) and He knows all the steps and that He will complete the good work He started in each of us!
Thank you for sharing your sweet love of grace with me! I am so excited to learn and grow in appreciation of Gods great grace this year! Happy Tuesday!
Oh those Lego struggles! My younger son rarely has the patience for them (and often does not have his piece facing the right way) but his oldest brother is more than happy to help! Thanks for linking up with us at Together on Tuesdays.
You’re so welcome! Thank you for visiting my humble little space! Blessings!!!
Sometimes it seems we think grace is all about us and what we receive. Thanks for the reminder that grace is really all about God and what He chooses to do for our undeserving selves just because He loves us. Blessings from your neighbor at Holley’s
Blessings right back, neighbor! And thank you so much for the encouragement! I am really enjoying my journey learning about grace! Happy Wednesday!
Oh how I love grace! And being your neighbor today at Coffee for Your Heart!
XO
Tammy
Yes! Happy Wednesday, neighbor! Thank you for visiting!
I never did get very good at Legos, but I love this amazing metaphor. And I love the idea that maybe my kids, the Lego Masters, learned something about the following life by following those complicated diagrams!
Yes, Michele! Wise anecdote! Prayers that we all follow God’s great diagram for our lives! Happy Wednesday!
Lego’s bring back so many memories. I have buckets and buckets in my closet. It was a brilliant idea the year I gave them all their own bases. When a littler brother destroyed the buildings of a bigger brother (because littles just do that), I tried to convince the older brother, “Natural Disasters come. We all need to learn how to rebuild.” They never bought that mantra! I love how you build with your Legos – especially this: “Before setting resolutions beyond what we’re crafted to achieve, let’s ask the Father to guide our resolve.” God puts a plan on our hearts sometimes – and we think we need to be able to do it now – but it’s a lifetime project, one block at a time. Thank you for opening my eyes to another facet of Lego Love! I’ve had a delightful visit. Shalom! ~ Maryleigh
Thank you, Maryleigh! I appreciate your visit and your story! Wonderful thing, isnt it, that we can glean so much from unassembled blocks. Happy Wednesday!
Ah, yes, tiny things with poor instructions frustruate me, too! May we live with open eyes to see all the evidences of God’s grace in our lives!
Yes! And trust one revealed step at a time! Amen!
Hi Meg! I appreciate your insight on assembly. “Christ is there when the aim to achieve is beyond our ability to reach.” That is so well put and a much needed word of encouragement. Thank you!
Thank you, Joy! Life is too overwhelming to tackle all at once …God puts together one bag of pieces at a time …in His perfect time. Happy Wednesday!
Grace!! Can you even imagine life without it – terrifying! It certainly changes our perspective and only by grace are we able to be the people God has called us to. And Legos, oh…just oh. They have brought our son much joy, and us much angst. I don’t think there will be Legos in heaven – just sayin’. 😉
Amen, girl! Our God is good …all the time! #nolegosinheaven
Happy Wednesday!!!
I know I still need assembly. And I still need patience to wait for Him to finish. If only there was an age where just the patience was complete!
Yes, and especially in the realm of parenting! Happy Wednesday!
Love this! “Christ is there when our aim to achieve is beyond our reach “. How this describes my sanctification! My righteousness! All of it! Your grace analogy is helpful and encourages my heart this morning:) thank u!
Bless you for visiting this morning, and letting me know how God used these words to warm your heart. I’m always so encouraged by these comments! Happy Thursday!
There is some good stuff here, Megs. Grace being God-gifted through Jesus death allows us entrance… and Dreams as the pieces of our destiny…both make me re-think the way we approach and settle deep into His presence. It reminds me of the need to be present IN Christ all the time. And I love the simple awareness of kids. They get things sometimes, so much easier than we… I wonder if that is why the Word reminds us that Jesus said we need to come like children when we ask and when we seek.
Blessings!
Dawn
Dawn, your encouragement means a great deal to my heart! Thank you visiting today! I’m forever grateful for the wisdom I glean through motherhood. God truly has His hand on all things, lovingly guiding us in the most unexpected ways. Truly why He tells us to have faith like a child. Amen. Happy Thursday!
I am so glad Dad can put it together. When our daughter was stationed in Korea, We asked her to secure a brass bed for us. She complied and had it shipped to us. Of course it came in a box with many pieces. We set it aside, and waited until she was reassigned back to the states and could come visit us with her husband. Chuck is an expert at puzzles, and although it took awhile, he was able to get our bed so that it looked like the picture. Thank you for sharing your awesome post with us here at Tell me a Story.
Hazel! Great story! And oh what patience we need while we are waiting for something to be put together. But it’s always worth it! Happy Thursday!
Living in grace is so awesome! I liked your lego illustration 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us at Together on Tuesdays!
Thank you so much for visiting, and for your kind encouragement. Love Together on Tuesdays!
Good luck! #TwinklyTuesday
Thank you, Meg, for encouraging my heart this evening.
Bless you, and Happy Tuesday!
Just face the way you see it in the picture. Isn’t that the truth when we apply The Bible to our lives. thank you for sharing this with us here at Tell me a Story.
Hi Megs,
I liked the way you used legos as a metaphor. Your graphic was perfect with this post.
Yes, we all do have things we strive to put together.
Thank you for “liking” my new traffic post about how to get over 13,000 page views each month. Thank you as well for visiting my blog today.
Janice
Your welcome, Janice! And thank you for visiting! Happy Thursday!!!