To be completely honest, I've been putting off this post. Why? It scares me a little. It's something that I feel like is bigger than the words I can string together. I'm not sure I can do it justice. But it's been tugging at my heart, so here goes:
the unforced rhythms of grace.
my church at home has been doing a series on matthew for, like, forever. we've made it to chapter 11, and last week, we covered verses 25-30. i had the message translation with me, and verses 28-29 absolutely floored me with their honesty and beauty.
are you tired? worn out? burned out on religion? come to Me. get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. walk with Me and work with Me- watch how I do it. learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
to be clear, I don't currently feel worn out or tired. but we've all been there at some point. and I'd heard this passage before, in a different translation. but it's that last sentence that stuck out to me this time. learn the unforced rhythms of grace. it sounds great- sure, I'd like to learn that. but how? and what are the unforced rhythms of grace?
a rhythm is constant. it doesn't change. in a piece of music, all the other instruments could change, get louder, or mess up, but the rhythm's always there. it's a flow, a habit, a sweet spot. once you learn a rhythm, it is, by nature, unforced. other things can come and go, mess up, or change, but I think once you're in a God ordained rhythm, He'll help you stay there.
grace. that could merit a whole blog of its own. what is grace? I don't think it can be easily defined, except with the name Jesus. that's really all it is- grace is Jesus. but how do we learn that? grace is complicated and beautiful, messy and soothing. I use philosophy's amazing grace body wash, and the bottle has a little story on it. mine says this: "grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence... it's something money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest can't help." so again, how do we get that? Jesus tells us in Matthew 11- we should walk with Him, work with Him, and watch Him.
the other night I was driving back to auburn, on 280, and I was flying through all the green lights. it was great. one of those awesome moments where the traffic gods love you, ya know? but then, I hit a red light. so I stopped. (obviously.) and all of a sudden, it hit me. even though I had been cruising through green light after green light, when I had to stop, I didn't mind at all. I found it kind of peaceful, actually, a quick little change of pace. I imagine this is sort of what living in the unforced rhythms of grace looks like. whether you're driving fast or slow, you don't mind. roll with the punches and take each moment as its own. if we can get to that place, Jesus says we'll recover our life and we'll rest in Him. what could be better than that?
the unforced rhythms of grace.
my church at home has been doing a series on matthew for, like, forever. we've made it to chapter 11, and last week, we covered verses 25-30. i had the message translation with me, and verses 28-29 absolutely floored me with their honesty and beauty.
are you tired? worn out? burned out on religion? come to Me. get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. walk with Me and work with Me- watch how I do it. learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
to be clear, I don't currently feel worn out or tired. but we've all been there at some point. and I'd heard this passage before, in a different translation. but it's that last sentence that stuck out to me this time. learn the unforced rhythms of grace. it sounds great- sure, I'd like to learn that. but how? and what are the unforced rhythms of grace?
a rhythm is constant. it doesn't change. in a piece of music, all the other instruments could change, get louder, or mess up, but the rhythm's always there. it's a flow, a habit, a sweet spot. once you learn a rhythm, it is, by nature, unforced. other things can come and go, mess up, or change, but I think once you're in a God ordained rhythm, He'll help you stay there.
grace. that could merit a whole blog of its own. what is grace? I don't think it can be easily defined, except with the name Jesus. that's really all it is- grace is Jesus. but how do we learn that? grace is complicated and beautiful, messy and soothing. I use philosophy's amazing grace body wash, and the bottle has a little story on it. mine says this: "grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence... it's something money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest can't help." so again, how do we get that? Jesus tells us in Matthew 11- we should walk with Him, work with Him, and watch Him.
the other night I was driving back to auburn, on 280, and I was flying through all the green lights. it was great. one of those awesome moments where the traffic gods love you, ya know? but then, I hit a red light. so I stopped. (obviously.) and all of a sudden, it hit me. even though I had been cruising through green light after green light, when I had to stop, I didn't mind at all. I found it kind of peaceful, actually, a quick little change of pace. I imagine this is sort of what living in the unforced rhythms of grace looks like. whether you're driving fast or slow, you don't mind. roll with the punches and take each moment as its own. if we can get to that place, Jesus says we'll recover our life and we'll rest in Him. what could be better than that?