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Grace

I've told a couple people recently that I'm rediscovering grace and learning to live by grace and not guilt. The last month of my life has been intensely painful, but probably some of the most productive, growing times I've ever had. Today I had an e-mail from a good friend where he mentioned how we need to let go of things at times and "rest" in God's grace (easier said than done - his words). That is very hard to do because it's not like you can "try" to rest in God's grace. It's not something you try to do; it's something you do. And it's something I need so desperately. I'm such an overanalyzer and worrier in life. I try to figure out everything. I want to know the reasons behind things. I always want to peel back the layers of reality to see what else might lie there. But...in the end I need to knock it off and rest in God's grace.

A well-known verse is Proverbs 3:5 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;"

I love the way it's paraphrased in The Message - "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own."

So much of what I wrestle with and struggle with in life is because I ignore that verse. I'm all about figuring it out. So, my only hope is when I stop analyzing myself and I stop trying to figure everything out and I simply...trust.

“Grace”