Grace-Deficient or Grace-Supplied

This weekend I got to take our church girls to the Wilds of New England’s GLAM/Dare For More conference. I can’t recommend it enough!

Although I don’t have the energy to write about the entire conference and I am still processing much of what I learned, and although I’m still experiencing that crazy “brain fog” that comes with being sick/mono, I’ll share the best I can what the Lord highlighted in His word to me personally this weekend.

It’s simple, really:

We are grace-supplied women.

Whatever God calls us to do, He’ll help us perform. 

But many times we live as though we are grace-anemic.

When God is the supplier of the grace, and He’s giving it out as needed, why would we assume we can’t accomplish what He’s called us to do? Where does the doubt come from? I don’t think it’s doubt in God. Instead, I think we are frozen in fear by our own sinful tendencies and they look like Mt. Everest to us, so we make excuses:

• God, I can’t do that. Forgive that person who has RUINED my life? You can’t really mean that.
• I can’t love him. He’s so cold and unfeeling. You can’t possibly mean that I need to waste my love on him.
• You want me to treat others as I want to be treated? Always? So, no more of the “Do unto others as they’ve done unto me” tit for tat?
• You want me to serve others tirelessly?
• You want me to deny myself, take up my cross and follow you? I’m not sure I’ll like the destination. I’m not sure I can do another day of “death to flesh”–and when’s it gonna be my turn to be pampered a little, anyway?
• So you want me to serve others, do what I don’t want to do, prefer others who don’t deserve it, give others the best and me take the least, serve while others are not pulling their weight, love on women who are just plain miserable, give to those who are despitefully using me? Really, Lord. I’m not thinking I can do this.

And the Lord says, YES. Trust me and follow my Word.

And I say, “Um, that sounds really tiring and really impossible.” {okay, the tiring is the mono speaking here. lol}

It’s impossible apart from me,

but WITH me,

connected to me, abiding in me, you have all the strength, desire and power to do what you’ve been asked to do.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Eph. 4:7

We are grace-supplied women. God is the supplier, and His resources are never ending.

Think of trying to fill your child’s sand pail full of water at Niagara Falls.  You’re not going to come up short when you reach in to fill that bucket. Niagara Falls is water supplied,

and we are grace supplied,

not because we are a special kind of super-Christian,

but because our source is so amazing and so abundant.

He’ll always fill us, help us, and supply us with the grace we need for our daily task, when we go back to the source for help.