Tag Archives: grace

Boasting in Weakness

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I want to believe the Gospel. More than anything. I want the Truth to sink into my bones. I want to move on Gospel fuel, breathe Gospel air, live with Gospel blood in my veins. But while my mind gets that, my heart does otherwise. I admit that I strive to work hard for God, reluctant to rest in what He’s done for me.

I tend to feel like people coming to know the Lord depends directly on how much joy they see in my life–that if I can just be happy enough, strong enough, lively enough, of course they’ll want a relationship with Jesus. I believe they’ll only want Him if I don’t break down, don’t feel pain, and don’t mess up. I make myself out to be the Savior, assuming my “perfect” life will win hearts for Christ.

But of course, things don’t work that way. I get hurt, stressed, and burdened. I fall to sin. I crumble under pressure. And then guilt washes over me as I hear whispers of the evil one. Who would ever want your God? He’s not even here for you. Why would anyone assume He’d show up for them? Or worse, What’s so great about what you have? You’re a mess. Yeah, that’s some strong Savior of yours.

How twisted! Jesus never said that we wouldn’t face trials. He never directed us to hide our pain. People are attracted to authenticity, not hypocrisy; to vulnerability, not artificial poise.

We don’t have to have perfect lives in order for people to want to know Jesus. The entire point of the Gospel is that He lived a perfect life. That He is the rock we lean on. That we are broken. He is holy. Our brokenness puts His glory on display. Our frailty magnifies His strength.

Our failure is a testimony to God’s grace. In our weakness, He is strong.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9

Singleness: Season of Grace

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God has chosen, before the foundation of the world, to rescue his people through the sacrifice of His Son and to purchase a people who love him, know him, and gladly submit to his loving kingship.

Marriage is a reflection, a picture of this reality. I take joy in the fact that God didn’t put Adam and Eve together in marriage and then say to himself, “This will be a good picture of the gospel.” Instead, he always had the gospel in mind, and uses marriage to display that. This reminds me that all of life is about God and His plan, not marriage.

Marriage displays the gospel to the world and brings God glory. This is done by the sacrificial laying down of the husband’s life for the wife and the wife’s glad submission to her husband. Singleness also displays the gospel to the world, just differently. It shows that our identity is in Christ and that he is sufficient–we don’t need boys, babies, and marriage to have worth, value, and fulfillment.

It is clear that singleness provides a lot of advantages. I can enjoy the season of life the Lord has clearly called me to and I can invest in people, discipleship, and others without any restrictions. I am learning to believe that singleness is not a curse, but a season of grace. I also find hope in the fact that marriage is only temporary and singleness is eternal. There will not be marriage forever, but we will all be single in heaven.

So, presently I find myself learning to hope and trust that God will not lead me to the edge of a cliff, or leave me to writhe in the disappointment of unfulfilled desire. I am praying for grace to hope and believe that he won’t dash all my desires and dreams.

Yet, I am wrestling with the fact that when God loves us it doesn’t mean he gives us all the desires of our hearts. When he loves us it’s that he is ruthlessly committed to us and we cannot make him unfaithful to us, despite our faithlessness.

This is heavy as I contemplate the implication that I may live a life of unfulfilled desire. A life with no companionship, of never giving my life to someone in the covenant of marriage, never bearing and raising my own children, never knowing the intimacy of “one-ness”, and long nights of tears and loneliness. I have to believe and trust that whether or not that’s my lot in life, God is ruthlessly committed to sustaining me and giving me himself.

How can I ask for anything more?