Grace is a topic that has been on my mind all Summer long. Now that it is October, we are entering into another season of grace. Since this summer God has laid on my heart to write a Red Chair Post called 50 Shades of Grace! God presented the idea to me many months ago, but it wasn’t time yet. But this week, I have felt God nudge me to move forward with this project. Here’s where you come in. My goal is to have 50 different testimonies of how God has shown evidence of grace in YOUR life. Please consider sharing whatever God lays on your heart, whether that maybe a sentence or several paragraphs. I know that immediately some of you are thinking to yourself “I’m not a writer.” Please don’t worry, I’m not look for Pulitzer prize winning journalism, I’m looking for a thankful heart willing to share.
You may choose to write anonymously or sign off with your name or initial. I know this project maybe out of your comfort zone. My prayer is that anyone reading this post, and those who participate, will be encouraged by seeing how beautiful 50 Shades of Grace can be.
50 Shades of Grace will be a mini-series. I will post several at a time as I receive testimonies of grace. I am certainly not limiting God to only 50 testimonies. God can do whatever He desires with this project. Besides, it was His idea in the first place!
I look forward to your response. You may email me at aprilwhitesml@gmail.com or send me a private Facebook Message.
~April
50 Shades of Grace: Part I
1. “I have certainly been saved by God’s Grace even though I am undeserving. God continues to bless me and one way I receive His Grace is by people in my life.” -Joanie
2. “Several years ago, quite a few circumstances entered my life that threatened my sanity and my walk with God. Often it seemed unbearable and hopeless. Although my flesh stayed intact, my mind and emotions were severely scarred. I watched my mother, my best friend, die a slow, agonizing death; I felt such anger over things that could have been done differently. During that same period of time I was experiencing severe anxiety over two of my own suspect mammograms, I suffered emotional abuse from someone who was supposed to love me, I lived in torment of bipolar pendulum, and my husband and I went through a difficult separation causing guilt over the pain it caused my children. All of which, I thought were ugly scars that would be the end of my life. I remember thinking over and over, “This is it! I can’t take anymore! I want to die!”
But GRACE!
Although the circumstances cut deep, in time, the healing began. I learned the importance of forgiveness. God’s grace! I developed boundaries for protection and I’ve come through heartache a much stronger person. Grace! I was surrounded by friends and family who gave an ear to listen and a hand to help and I’m thankful for counseling that helped me develop a better outlook on life. Again, God’s grace. Grace was the realization that God was working good when I could only see the bad. It was deliverance, hope, and joy. His grace gave me the ability to know that I, in Him, could face the future.
A decade has gone by. Life goes on. And only though the grace of my Lord, can I, daily continue to put one foot in front of the other. Only then can I embrace the scars of the past and the ones yet to come. “So to keep me from being conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me. “My GRACE is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. -Sonia
I would love to share your story of grace. You may email me at redchairmoments@gmail.com ~April