Today I am pleased to introduce you to someone who has become so dear to me…in spite of the fact that I have never met her face to face. We have talked online about everything from children’s medication to writing and shared a few secrets in the process. We’ve blessed and encouraged one another more than a few times. One day I hope to have the opportunity to meet Brooke Keith, but for now, we share a love of writing and Jesus over the internet.
Brooke is the author of Chrissie’s Shell and other children’s books. She is a mentor with the Hugs and Hope Foundation, a wife to her handsome husband Chris and a mom to their five adorable little ones . . . but most of all, Brooke is a girl head over heels for her awe-inspiring Savior and finds His love far too wonderful to keep to herself.
Please make my friend Brooke welcome, y’all.
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‘My grace is sufficent for you.’
2 Corinthains 12:9
If you know me well, you probably know I grew up in what could have been a Lifetime movie. Shouts were often loud, violence the norm. Doors were screwed-in shut. I know what it is like to run on your bare feet down a gravel road that used to feel so safe, full speed ahead, just trying to escape. I can still tell you to this day how that felt in great detail. If I close my eyes I can feel the rocks that pierced and burned my skin.
I know what it is like to take refuge behind churches, to sleep in my mother’s car. I know what it is like to hear sirens in the background, to see brain matter scattered on trees. I know what it is like to be the six o’clock news.
I know what it is like to feel hopeless . . .
And I know what it is like to find hope. To be saved from impending doom. To be sheltered. To be loved – REALLY loved. No shouts, no violence. Screws from the doors removed . . . open wide . . . opportunity and grace abundant. FREE.
From a good few miles up the road of my life I can look back and see . . . His grace has always been sufficient. Even though at the time it did not seem as such . . .
His grace has always been more than enough. When I look back on all that I learned and how it shaped my character, how it changed my life – I see the good in the evil. I see how my God worked for me, went to bat for me . . . covered me in His grace.
The sky blue in my children’s eyes, the thump-thump of their heartbeats, my husband’s rough hand in mine, the quiet song of a bird in the backyard, the hum of a passing train . . .
Little things so small but so significant.
Little things so sufficient.
When I look back on my life, I have no doubt that my Father knows what is best for me. Even when my flesh wrestles with what the world throws my way, even when I kick and scream against discipline and hardship. The adversity in my life has been trail markers, paving a path that few have seen. They have brought me closer to God. They have made Him my very best friend. They have given me a trust in Him that I am grateful for each and every day. They have been the difference from an ordinary life and one that is extraordinary.
I believe God knows what is best for us. Even when it feels like He doesn’t, even when it hurts and it’s hard, even when we throw our arms up in frustration and let out a cry that is so distressed it doesn’t even make a noise. Even then . . . He knows. There’s no situation He cannot turn around. No evil that cannot be conquered.
God knows what is best for you. He knows the trials you face. He knows what you need when you need it and He can supply it. He knows your fears and your shortcomings . . . and He says to you ‘’Be still, my child. My grace is sufficient.’’
When life gets hard, I still struggle. I still hurt and wrestle with the fact that I am merely mortal. But it’s in the quiet times that I shut off my own thoughts and allow Him to work that I discover . . . He is still the same God. The ’right on time’’ God of Abraham’s mountain, the ‘’come forth’’ of Lazarus, the son of Mary, the keeper of the universe, the One who made you and me in His image, the perfect One who loved us enough to take our sins upon Himself so that we wouldn’t have to struggle beneath their weight anymore . . .
When your world shatters to the floor, you can rest assured you are not broken. He is simply rearranging the pieces to create something even more beautiful than before. Life to the fullest . . . that’s what He promised. If you find yourself uncertain of this simple beautiful truth take heart. What wonderful works has He done for you before? What blessings has He given you? What has He walked with you through? Did He save you from it . . . or hold you through it making you who you ought to be?
When everything turns to muck – Look back on what was . . .
You will find a glimpse of I AM, a very present help in our trouble.
