Tag: grace

Gentleness

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The Surrender Experiment

This book was a timely read and recommended from a guy I trust a lot. It landed in the middle of a season when I was fit to be tied. Life had kinda thrown a curve ball and like always, I wasn’t expecting it. Like all these moments- we don’t create them, they happen, and our response (I’ve realised) is what truly matters.

The challenge to this ‘surrender experiment’ is simple. Instead of resisting these events, what if they are destined to teach us something about ourselves. What if our reaction is a negative one that reveals more about where our heart is at and is supposed its to push into growth? Hands up – this is exactly what this series of events in my life helped me focus on. Me. I couldn’t control the circumstance but I could work on me.

In truth this has become a fun way to do life, especially in the moments that feel like bad ones. It redefines them in a beautiful way and labels them as moments where God is doing his beautiful character work in our story.

So with my ears tuned into this word surrender for the last 6 months, my ears perked up during our current Women’s bible study. Beth Moore is a content legend. To live is Christ had a week on the fruit of the Spirit; and as she explained the word gentleness in its original context – lo and behold we have the word surrender.

Gentleness isn’t only soft, mild and all the other thoughts that come into our head when we hear it. It means surrender, to lean into the will of God.

I was intrigued as our Pastor taught a recent series and the key text was Matthew 11.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

With gentleness fresh in my head from bible study, and life lessons teaching me to surrender to whatever comes my way, this verse took on a different meaning. Check out the root meaning of ‘gentleness’ ⬇️

This concept of living lightly (what our series was called) is wrapped up in surrender. Leaning into life. Trusting. Accepting his dealings with us as good, even when the curve balls come – do we trust the process?

Some things are just simply out of our control. I have been guilty of overthinking the circumstance, trying to rework it or manipulate in some way to make sense of it all. But what if instead of trying to land a better outcome, what if the better outcome is what that event did in me as opposed to around me? The surrender experiment is about accepting life and trusting that ALL things, good and bad, are training and designed to bring something good out of everything. Whilst the book isn’t necessarily Christian based, I couldn’t help but think that everything about it sounded like Jesus and his kingdom way of life.

Do we trust the process of inner work when our outer world is going crazy? Having tried this for the last 6 months I can definitely say it’s a simpler way to do life and dare I say lighter one.

So in light of surrender meaning to give up – I give up trying to sort it all out and I give in once again to the author of it all. He’s convinced me that He can make good out of anything.

So here’s to letting go, leaning into life, living surrendered, living gently just like Jesus.

I challenge you to give it a go!

Graceful Performance

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GRACE…

It changes everything.

“One Way Love” by Tullian Tchividjian has fuelled the thoughts that follow.

I don’t think I will ever tire of learning to live in His inexhaustible Grace. In fact, I think there’s so many elements to grace that even if I tried, I don’t think I will ever fully comprehend it’s vastness – to everyone!

Grace is amazing – when it’s extended to us.

Grace is offensive – when it’s extended to the people we have a hard time with.

Grace is hard to get our heads round.

It’s hard to get our heads round, because the God view and idea of grace rarely plays out in real relationships. His idea is simple – show me your worst (whilst you were still sinners) and I will advance towards you (Christ died – offered all of himself to re-establish connection to the world).

Typically our experience outside of this type of grace is – show me your worst, I’ll try my best to love you in the mess, but when you hurt me and it gets personal, I’m outta here. As much as we want to understand and extend grace – heavens grace – our struggle will always be fully giving it without condition. Even if the condition is to bring a good change – it’s still a condition. It still has strings attached – I love you, but want you to ….. and the list can be endless.

The grace we often offer comes with conditions. It comes with an agenda. It comes with manipulative intentions.

Deep down – we struggle to believe that God’s love is extended to us because he is love and not because we are lovely. The sorriest among us can’t quite believe His love covers “everything” we have done.  It’s too good to be true, that everything is covered in this exchange.  The self-righteous amoung us (of which I can totally affilaiate with), can’t quite believe there is “nothing” we need to do to get this love. NOTHING.

In our state of “cant quite believing” – we can find ourselves accepting grace – but still working at behaving “right”. Grace with works – a total torture.

I am reminded today – a Sunday – a day of rest – that His grace is His grace, extended to mankind because He is full of grace not because of us, full of ourselves. Our right standing before God, is found in Christ and Christ alone before we do anything right.

I am reminded that Christ in me, full of grace – can offer such grace to the people around me.

To love the way He loves.

To love without conditon.

To love without prejudice.

To love beyond the expectations I place on people.

And thank God, there is grace in the learning.

You are loved – therefore go love.