Friday, April 8, 2011

Grateful For The Good

I am often invited to share in people's lives, which is a gift in my life.   The thing is . . . I have come to appreciate the gift of life that lies within each individual . . . and, whether the person knows it or not, there really is something extraordinary about their gift.  Sometimes individuals can't seem to grasp what God has given them because of the stuff of life that they have had to manage,  because the pain from hurtful and hard things has been too much, because  they need to meet and develop a relationship with Christ to experience it.  But.  There is a way for every person to experience the gift of life, healed, whole, and strong.
Sometimes the messiness of life can make it seem impossible and, if pressed, I'd agree it's true when we walk the path alone.  But.  When our life is in and with Christ, everything changes, making life into an extraordinary gift.
Consider.
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, NIV).
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, NIV).
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17, NIV).
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’  (Acts 17:28a, NIV).
When we take a moment and look back on our life, when we feel fragile and broken, when we are exhausted and overwhelmed, when we think about all of the hard stuff and the resulting unanswered questions, in the middle of it all, we can rest on the promises that God will work all things together for good, even the impossible things, grateful because the good work in our life is an extraordinary gift from heaven.
Be grateful to be in the midst of an extraordinary gift . . . life . . . and give thanks for the good work of God.
Learning to Kickstart the day grateful for the extraordinary gift of life,
Kerrie

(written by Kerrie Carlisle Palmer © 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)