Daylight Savings

I was driving to my small group at my church the other day and was thinking about how weird it was to be driving at 5:45 pm in daylight. For the past few months, it's been dark at this time, and honestly, I can relate to that. Much of my life this past year and a half has been dark. There's been so much that has happened, so much work and healing that I've put into myself. That now, I am slowly beginning to see and feel the effects. Most of those effects have been good, however, some of them have not been. When we experience healthy growth there is always a bit of pain as well because we begin to realize the unhealthy or even toxic traits that we've been carrying around. I like to say that growth and comfort do not walk hand in hand. When we experience growth there's always going to be growing pains. For much of the past 7 months, I've been experiencing those growing pains because I have dived into working on myself.

And so, as I was driving into church thinking how strange it was to be driving in daylight I was also thinking how strange it was for me personally to be experiencing this newfound light within my life. I'll be honest, I had grown used to the darkness, even found some comfort in it, that darkness that was much of my life. And now, here I was, beginning to see and feel the light pouring in. Sometimes we go through dark periods in our life. It's inevitable, because of sin, we will always experience dark moments, however, that doesn't mean it has to stay that way. We have hope in Jesus Christ! He can redeem and restore and bring to light what was living in darkness. I encourage you, whenever you go through those dark periods of life you cling to Jesus. Pour yourself into Him. Get into the Word, spend your days in prayer, seek out godly counsel, or get more involved within your church. When we face those dark periods, we do not have to fear what's ahead. We can trust Him to provide and protect.

The Bible tells us to be careful of what we boast in. We often wonder why we go through hard periods, and I very much understand the feeling like this hard season will never end. My friend, I understand that. I truly do. My encouragement to you is that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (Phillippians 1:6). My friends, I know it can be hard to believe that, especially when it takes all our strength to get through the day. My friends, I encourage you, do not give up. The Lord will sustain you, always. I do not boast about my own ability to bring healing and light into my life. The progress that has been made in my life is all because of Him. There are numerous Bible verses that talk about boasting and that we must be so careful to not boast in our own works. Ephesians 2:8 tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." It is not because of what we do that we are saved, it is because of the blood of Christ that we're saved.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me." Did you guys catch that?? "My power is made perfect in weakness." God is clearly stating that it is only through His power that we can experience true and unending freedom. It is only through Him that we can boast and not our good works. Roamans 5:20 says, "God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant." What a God we serve, that as our sins increase His grace becomes that more powerful and abundant. Abundance means lacking in nothing. We will never be lacking in God's grace. That is why we cannot boast in ourselves, because we will always be lacking. His grace can overcome any sin. A popular Bible verse on boasting is Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."

I cannot boast in how far I've come since my abortion. That is God's doing. My healing hearts mentor has mentioned to me many times how inspired by me she has been because of how quickly I have dived into sharing about my aboriton and seeking help. While it is encouraging to me to hear her say that, because many people hold onto that hurt for a long time before telling anyone and getting help, I can only say that it is because of what the Lord is doing in my life that I am where I am. That it is because of Him that I am no longer who I was and am continuing to walk into the person He has called me to be. How blessed I am, how blessed we all are that the God of perfect holiness chose us, a broken and hurting people, to love and save. I am beyond words at how humble I am that the Lord would chose me, would save me, would redeem me, and would change my life for the better.

My friends, wherever you are at, know this; God's grace is sufficient and nothing can separate us from His love for us. It is my prayer for you that in times of darkness you are reminded that you have everything you could ever need in Him. That He will supply and sustain you. He who began a good work in you will prefect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

* For Bible verses on boasting check out this website.