"Practically Divine" - Week 6
“Bound to Grace” has been a wonderful phrase to study this week. It’s offered many different lanes of discussion. It’s given us numerous reasons to be overwhelmed with thanksgiving and praise.
When our hearts truly understand the grace of God over and in our lives and allow that grace to transform our lives, something beautiful happens. We become able to have abundant grace for others AND for ourselves. Have you ever noticed or paid attention to the difficulty of having grace for yourself? Or, are you able to live with the kind of vulnerability that gives yourself and others space for grace to cover.
On page 113, Becca said, “To be bound by grace means that we are known by the source of all love. But it also means we are willing to be hurt. To be known, we have to share our intimacies and vulnerabilities I am willing for my Creator, who knows and loves me, to see my willing for my Creator, who knows and loves me, to see my vulnerability and weaknesses. If we hold that stuff in, it is hard to be known….. To be known also means we are brave enough to search our own hearts. We have to be willing to continue to search our hearts.”
Today, I want to offer an opportunity for you to hear more about living vulnerably before God and others by sharing a podcast.
Disclaimer – This podcast is led by a therapist who is interviewing therapists. It’s deep and it’s slow. Giving it a real chance to speak to our hearts, we may have to go to places in our hearts and souls that aren’t comfortable or easy. You get to decide. Finally, therapy language will often sound like we are being invited to NOT have grace for others in our lives that have caused soul damage of any king. I promise you that isn’t the case. Working through Biblical therapy always leads back to grace for self and others. However, in the beginning, there must be a diligence to call out and name damage for what it is…. Sin. Since this is an isolated session, you may hear language towards a parent or friend or significant other that seems ungracious. It’s a necessary step for naming, but I promise you neither of these therapists would encourage a client to remain in this naming space forever.
OK, with that out of the way, here is today’s podcast titled, “Redeeming Heartache: How Past Suffering Reveals Our True Calling.”
Enjoy your weekend, everyone. I’ll see you on Monday for chapter 6.
God, I believe you are calling us to pause and reflect, to look at the ways this word has done damage to our souls. While your Word can be a balm to our souls and give explanation for it, I believe Christianity may have encouraged us to move past this damage too quickly. We may have skipped right over allowing You to fully heal our souls with grace before turning to offer that grace to others. In every place where we need to pause for healing, stop us from moving forward. Cause us to remain and heal since we are bound to Your grace. For every place where our souls have experienced the full healing of Your grace, send us out into the broken world with that message of hope through vulnerability. God, from the very center of my heart and soul, I thank you for bringing beauty from broken every single time we give You the space and freedom to do it. Amen.
