Skip to main content

All the Things We Cannot Do Ourselves


Do you remember back to when you were a baby?  Maybe you can remember back to when you had your own baby.  What could that baby do?  Almost nothing.  Cry.  Wet.  Nurse.  Sleep.  How much could that baby NOT do?  Almost everything.  If it wasn't for your loving care, that baby would have died.  All that you did for that helpless baby, things that baby could not do for itself, was grace. 




That baby got older, and could start doing a few more things. They could walk and talk, and say please and thank you.   They might even be able pour a bowl of cereal and find the milk in the refrigerator.  Wow!  Soon they learned to tie their own shoes, and empty the dishwasher.


But could they do everything?  No.  The child can not earn their own income and pay rent on a house.  They can't drive a car.  They might not even know how to read yet, or sign their name.  They need protection, and guidance.  They need love and security.  They need education, and so much more.



All the things that you do for your children, that they can not do themselves, that is grace you are giving them.


You were once a child, and now you are grown and out on your own.  Your life is full of responsibilities that you are meeting daily.  You are mature and capable.  You can do so much.  But can you do everything?  

Can you make it rain when the garden is dry?  Can you warm winter into spring?  Can you make yourself get well when you are sick?  Can you reach into a heart and change it from hatred to kindness and sweetness?  Can you?  No.  There are a lot of things that adults need, that only God can provide.  We all need God.  And all those things that he does for us every day, that is grace.

Grace is all those things that God has done, is doing, and will do for us, that we can not do for ourselves.  The biggest grace is salvation and a changed heart.  Only God can do that for me.  I'm so thankful for His amazing grace.



Some people think I am a good gardener, but I'm not sure I agree with them.  I really can't make seeds grow.  When you look at a handful of them, they look as dead as the paper package they came in.  It is God's grace that makes a bean seed turn into a tall vine creeping all over a wire fence, bearing dozens of bean pods for me to eat.  It is God's grace that cherry tomatoes taste so delicious straight off the vine, and that potatoes dug store well all winter.  God's amazing grace, all the amazing things he does touches me to the core.



In the spring, seed packets spread over the table, bucket of soil beside, am I thinking about what an amazing gardener I am, while poking seeds in pots?  No, I am thinking of how wonderful all the produce is going to taste when it is grown.  I am thinking of all that God is going to do.  He is going to quicken that little bit of dry plant matter, just like he quickened Adam when he breathed life into some other soil.



Stirring the garden dirt is faith, faith in the faithfulness of the God of grace.  If I didn't have faith in God's faithfulness make plants grow in the spring, I would not be out gardening.  But God is faithful.  Summer follows spring every year.  I count on His faithfulness to provide for me and do for me the all the things he does for me that He does for me that I can not do myself.  He is the covenant keeping God.  He has covenanted to love me with an everlasting love.



"Let us therefore come boldly
 unto the throne of grace,
 that we may obtain mercy,
 and find grace to help in time of need."
  Hebrews 4:16

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pohnpei, Part 3: Liduhduhniap Falls

(Note to those who weren't with me on Pohnpei in 1988.  You are welcome to listen in, but I am writing mainly for my fellow teachers, myself, and my family.  There will be some things you won't understand.  Just skim those parts, if you wish.) We stayed in this lovely building.  I think it used to be painted blue.  The lower floor used to be Mr. Quail's house.  The lower left apartment was Mr. Keith's.  Remember him?  The maintenance man?  We stayed in his apartment.  The building is still in good condition, but the cupboards and cabinets need help.  The particle board has swelled after all these years, and the drawers no longer work.  The building behind "Mr. Quail's place" is a cafeteria on the ground floor with  girls housing up above.  The boys are in the building that the nice Philippino lady, I think her name was Ramie, who taught typing lived in.  And there are a couple guys in the apartment in th...

Guam 2020: Post 2 - First Full Day on Guam

I'm doing pretty good, jet lag wise for the first day. I was able to sleep until 4:45 this morning. On past visits to the island, I woke up at 2 or 3 AM and was unable to go back to sleep. I've been busy all day. We took a hike with our friends, Roger and Amy Krum, and their children Nathan and Alyssa. There is a mural at the parking area that wasn't there before.  It depicts the traditional sailing boat of the Chamorro people, and the ancient latte stones. We went south on the highway, just a little ways to the viewpoint for Cetti Bay.  Then across the road is the trail to Mt. Lam Lam, the highest point on the island.  It was such a beautiful afternoon with temperatures in the low to mid 80's and a nice breeze off the sea.  The trail goes up through grassland savannas with trees and flowers along the way.  We saw the Bamboo orchid that grows in the grass. There were some little blue pea family flowers and some yellow pea family flo...

Mother's Day - Meal and Music

To start the morning out, I was banished from our home.  The kids were working on a surprise, and they didn't even allow me to be in my bedroom to wait.  So, I went to garage sales (there aren't many on a Mother's Day morning, but I scouted them out anyway), I bought gas, and went back home.  They said they weren't done yet, only 10 more minutes though.  So Rob took me on a 20 minute walk.  They weren't done when we got back, so they sent me to my room this time (am I in "time-out"), and around 30 minutes later I was finally called for breakfast.   Ok, it was  worth it, waiting for breakfast until 10:30 A.M. this morning.  My kids made a gourmet meal for me, nicer then the finest restaurant around, and there is not chance of me getting "glutened' here. My plate looked like a serving platter itself.  They made Baked Hashbrowns in a heart shaped pan, and then filled the center with my favorite recipe of scrambled tofu, garnished wit...