The Rhythms of Grace

What are the rhythms of grace? In Matthew 11, THE MESSAGE translates this familiar verse as follows:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your real life. I’ll show you how to take real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. (Matthew 11:28-29, THE MESSAGE)

How many times have I felt exactly this way? I feel as if I cannot take another moment, another phone call or email. I need Calgon to just take me away…

Or maybe instead of wishing on a dream of escape, a perception of peace, I need to take time to fellowship with my Savior and find the true meanings of peace and restoration.

Rhythms of Grace are our lives. The ebb and flow of our balancing acts as wives, mothers, sisters, friends, employees, servants, and members of the human race. It encompasses us from the moment we wake up, to the time we finally can lay our head on our pillows at night. It is the symphony of our lives each day, as all the instruments of who we are come together to make that perfect chord. Sometimes we make beautiful melodies, and other times we fall flat, or hit the mark too sharply.

When we don’t hit the mark, is where grace comes in. For years I thought grace had to do with God’s forgiveness towards us. It wasn’t until recently that I learned that “Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.” (John Piper, Seeking Him) Grace is our maestro, helping us stay on the beat of our lives, giving us a focal point and direction in how to play the music we are gifted to play.

So how are you doing today?

Are you tired? Did you wake up with a headache, or are you not feeling 100%. Did the baby, kids, phone call, or tv keep you up during the night? Did you get enough sleep?

Are you worn out? Do you want face the tasks that lay before you today? Do you feel like your life is just another day of the same old thing? Are you bordering on depression and despair?

Are you burned out on religion? Tired of going through the routine of church services? Lost your passion or desire to spend time in the Word and in prayer? Not feeling challenged by the lessons? Burdened with a person or situation at church?

Regardless of where you are today, God is saying “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your real life.” Our real life – do you remember that place? The dreams you had as a little girl? The things you wanted to do with your life?

I know how often I feel like I am just not getting anywhere with my life. The kids need me. I have to work. We have another strain hit us financially, or emotionally, and it seems like there is just never enough time to get through it all, to get back to who we are. BUT GOD can take us back to that place. He can remind us of who we are. More than anyone you know or have ever known, God knows you. He knows the desires of your heart. He knows the dreams you had as a child, and the disappointmens you have endured in life. He knows every thought, every need, every sigh.

I’ll show you how to take real rest. Do you feel it? Are you yearning for it yet? Do you want to enter that place of rest. That place where your mind can let go, even if just for a minute, and your soul can be refreshed.

How do we get there?

Walk with me – watch how I do it. God wants you to join Him on the journey. To walk with Him through this symphony of your life. The song only you can write and execute the way it was meant to be executed. He wants to teach you, to guide you, to provide you with the instruments to play that perfect song, in the perfect rhythms of grace, otherwise titled Your Life.

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