Today’s Five-Minute Friday Post:

Grace is what allows me to function in the midst of my struggles, and somehow attempt to glorify God in the midst of it all. Continued, unmerited favour I don’t deserve. In the words of one of my favourite hymns “Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow, all I have needed, thy hand hath provided, blessings all mine, and ten thousand beside.” I’ve struggled to remember this recently, as I’ve had a situation to deal with that anyone would find hard, and it may continue for some time to come. This is amongst the daily struggles of life with carers, wheelchairs, general life things everyone deals with, alongside ill health, significant disability, chronic pain, and fatigue.

Recently, I have had to learn to be kinder to myself too, to give myself the same grace I extend to others. To rest when I need to, do the things I can in the times I am awake, rather than struggling to do a half-hearted job while falling asleep, though there are times when this is necessary. I am trying to learn when to speak up to change things, to make my life easier, rather than burying my head in the sand, and when I should stay quiet, and also learning to lean on my God more and more, who has promised his grace is sufficient for me. My witness is greater through pain and struggle than an able-bodied life, as the likes of Joni Earekson Tada, or my friend Stacy Williams would say. Sometimes this is hard to reconcile, though I am working on it one day at a time, while trying to accept I have made major mistakes in my witness, and have a God who forgives, comforts, strengthens and provides, so I can learn to extend these things to others, hopefully pointing them to God in the process.

Resources:

Joni Eareckson Tada (http://www.joniandfriends.org)

Stacy Williams: 21 days to finding purpose in pain