Welcome! We are now in the last week of our study of Embrace Grace by
Liz Curtis Higgs…Chapter 8 “Embrace Grace…What a freeing experience!”
Throughout the Bible, God has worked through, not
independent of people. If you look at some of God’s chosen in the Old
Testament, they were certainly flawed in one way or another.
Just like us today.
He didn’t choose to work around these flawed and sinful
people, but through them.
Just like He does today.
God knows our sinfulness, and yet chooses to cover us in His
grace. He rebuilds us, with our faith and trust in Him growing stronger than
before.
And then…He wants to work through us.
Who did God work through to reach you?
He knew who to bring into your life at just the right
moment. Maybe it was someone you could relate to, or someone you looked up to.
Did that person tell you what you needed to hear? Or simply love you for who
you are?
Often, it’s in hindsight when the dots can be connected, and
you can see how God brought someone into your life and why.
And now, He may be moving you into someone else’s life.
If you’re like me, you may question what you have to offer,
unable to see how God can use something from your life to help another.
We may not know now, but God knows, and He will reveal it at
just the right time—His time.
I didn’t know how He could use the emotional and physical
pain of a miscarriage. Years later, I didn’t talk about it often, and when I did,
I still got choked up and tearful.
It didn’t seem like something He would bring good from…until
I knew another woman experiencing the same. It wasn’t easy, but I was able to
comfort, not by telling her I knew what she was going through, but by just saying,
I understand and I’m here if you want to
talk. And she did.
I never thought my trying to juggle a small child and
working outside the home could help someone else. I never even felt like I had
it together during that time.
But many years later, a new mom stopped to see me and she
asked me how I did it. She needed to talk, and I could listen and offer
suggestions from my experience. I didn’t think more about it until later, when
she thanked me. It was what she needed.
As I began to see how God can and does use what we go
through to comfort others, I knew He would do it again. It doesn’t lessen the
pain of a situation, but it does bring comfort in knowing He has a plan, and He
can and will bring good from all things to those who love Him.
And we know that in
all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
We connect with people in different ways based on what we
have in common, age, experiences, etc.
God might work through one person to reach you in a way that
no one else will. And God will work through you to reach someone—someone who
may not connect with anyone else.
But through you, God reaches her and changes her heart.
Are you willing?
No matter what we think, God can work through us. But we
have to be willing to follow His lead and open ourselves up to the work He
wants to do through us—and in us.
You see, there’s healing through letting Him use us for His
purpose.
He heals us while He enables us to comfort others.
And the fact that He covers us in His grace and then says we
have a place in His Kingdom work—it’s too incredible to even put into words.
Don’t underestimate what God can do in you…and through you.
If you feel comfortable, would you share a time when God
worked through your pain to help another?
In Christ,
Laura
