Saturday, August 30, 2014

Cracks and Stains of Life by Pastor Karena Lout

“I can never escape from your Spirit.
I can never get away from your presence.
If I go up to Heaven, you are there.
If I go down to the grave, you are there.”
Psalm 139:7-8

I recently read this post by Mick Mooney, author of God’s Grammar. All of Mick’s books revolve around the love and grace of God. I read this at a time I needed to remember how present Jesus is, not only in my “highs” but through the challenges too. There is so much life and truth in the “cracks” of life we get to experience. If you’re going through something difficult right now, I pray Jesus shows you just how present He is with you in it and who He is for you.

Love, Karena

"Life from a distance is beautiful; unblemished, perfect, seamless--but life is far more beautiful up close, where we see the warts and blisters, where we see the cracks and stains, where we see the brokenness and the uncertainty. Why? Because life can only be truly experienced up close. Sure, we can observe it from a distance, but to experience it, to participate in its true beauty, we have to embrace it, we have to allow the imperfections to touch us, and we have to embrace the cracks and stains of life. For the cracks and stains of life are as much part of the experience as the sunsets and the waterfalls are.

Life is messy. That's beautiful, because it's real, it's living and active; it's a gift that may not glitter and sparkle, because this gift does not come off the factory's production line. No, this gift comes from above.

It is easy enough to set up an illusion of life, though it is not truly living at all, but more of a fantasy in which to imprison ourselves in. But if we are willing to embrace life as it is--not chasing after perfection, but rather, participating within the reality of an imperfect life--we soon find something within that imperfection we never expected to find there.

We find God there.

God has made his home in the cracks and stains of life, and it is there he can comfort us in his arms, it is there he can wash our feet. It is there that he laughs and cries with us.

It is within the cracks and stains of life we realize that God's perfection is only truly experienced when we are willing to embrace, accept and experience our own imperfections.

Be brave. Embrace your life. Let God reveal himself to you within it in ways you never imagined possible." -Mick Mooney

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