"See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."
-- Hebrews 12:15
I love it when the gang rolls up its sleeves to help a neighbor. That happened recently when a new family moved into our church community. Friends from the congregation set aside a Saturday, donned their grubbies, and brought brushes, ladders, and paint to spiff up the place. Ken and I arrived early, he with his white painting pants on and me with a bucket of paint on my lap. But as I wheeled through the front door, I realized my wheelchair presented an obstacle to people on ladders and stools.
I had a choice. Was I going to feel sorry for myself because I couldn't take part? Or was I going to listen to Hebrews 12:5 and let no bitterness take root?
Sighing, I grabbed hold of God's grace and tried to figure a way I could participate. I glanced out the living room window and noticed a planter with nothing in it. It looks pretty drab, I thought. I bet my friends would appreciate a couple of geraniums. I drove to a nursery, got one of the clerks to help, and then came back with a bag of soil and a few plants. It wasn't hard to find someone looking for an excuse to escape the paint fumes inside and eager to do some planting. Soon, the red geraniums were potted to welcome the new tenants.
We make little choices for grace every day. Because every day stuff happens. Your friend shows up late for the carpool. The bag boy drops your eggs. A friend forgets to say “thank you” for the gift you gave him. Your neighbor's dog leaves his calling card on your front lawn. How do you respond?
Perhaps today you are pressed up against one of those choices. Take hold of Hebrews 12:15. Choose grace. It's always the better way.
* * * * *
Help me, Father God, to release bitterness. Then enable me to grab onto grace — for my sake and for those around me.
From More Precious Than Silver, April 6, by Joni Eareckson Tada, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1998.
No comments:
Post a Comment