GRACE

Luke 19:10(NIV)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

There is a song by Citizens Way that has been sticking with me the last few days, over and over I have been singing it in my head.  The chorus goes like this(you can view the entire song on YouTube):

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

I hear You singing over me

I once was lost but now I’m found

And it’s beautiful

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

It covers every part of me

My soul is silent, I am found

And it’s a beautiful sound

It’s a beautiful, beautiful sound

I am so incredibly grateful for the grace that comes through Christ Jesus.  I once was lost. I didn’t become a Christ follower until I was in my late thirties.  My husband and I, raising a family without Christ at the center of our home. Life was good, but something was missing, we felt a void, an emptiness that we couldn’t quite explain.  

That emptiness, the void, was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, couldn’t quite figure out what was missing.  For me, that emptiness began a series of questions, asking myself what could I do to fill that void.  I believe that was the start of my heart softening to hear the message about Jesus Christ.  A preparation for bigger things to come.

We were invited to church by a good friend and it was like my eyes were opened to God.  I could feel him pursuing me.  Opening my heart wide to accept Him as King and Leader of my life.  That day I realized my need for a Savior, that ultimately I am a sinner in need of redemption.  My sins separated me from God. 

You see, Jesus Christ came to seek the lost.  To show us a new way to live.  So He came down to this earth so that we could see him, touch him, learn from him.  He came so that he could pay the penalty for my sin, and yours, once and for all by death on a cross.  He then rose fro the grave and was ascended back to heaven to sit beside God.  When we recognize our sin and turn back to God, accepting Christ, we can live in fellowship with him. Do you know Jesus?  Do you see him seeking you, calling you home?

Once I accepted Christ and choose to live my life with Him at the center, life didn’t exactly get easier.  You see, I was diagnosed with cancer less than a year later.  But God was faithful, he walked beside us every step of the way, supporting us with his Word, with friends, and family.  I am grateful that I had come to know Him prior to my diagnosis, I felt better prepared to handle the days ahead.   I felt his presence daily as we chose to focus on him, trusting him with the outcome of my cancer.  I readily admit, there were moments, many of them, where fear got the better of me, but when I turned my focus back to God that fear was replaced with peace. Praise the Lord I have been cancer free for almost 10 years now.  

God continues to grow me each and everyday.  Taking the necessary time to transform me into the woman, wife, mother, and daughter he desires me to be. Some days it does feel like an uphill battle, progress can be slow, change is not always easy.  God is so patient. 
(Psalm 103:8) He has been patient with me as I lean into him and trying to remember to yield to his transforming power in my life.  

Do you feel an emptiness, a void in your life? Are you trying to fill that emptiness with stuff? Have you considered the possibility that it is God tapping you on the shoulder saying, I want you to come home? He misses you, will you turn to him today?