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My Two Cents
by Rev Chuck Behrens
August, 2012
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Past Articles |
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I heard not long ago about
a little boy who was trying to move this huge rock. He pulled, and he
pushed, and grunted and strained, trying to move it with leverage from a
board, but it was all to no avail. Finally his Dad said, "Son, have you
used all your resources?" "Oh, yeah, Dad. I can't make it move! I've tried
everything." And his Dad replied, "No, you haven't. You haven't asked me
to help you yet."
Maybe you're at a point right now. Oh, you're not a little boy, but you've
got a big rock that needs to move and you desperately need your father's
help. But you're going it alone doing everything you can to move it. Well
actually, there's something that keeps your Father right now from lifting
that load of yours.
Hebrews 12:15 starts out talking about a very sobering possibility. "See
to it," the writer says, "that no one misses the grace of God." Man,
there's a lot of things in your life that you could do without, but you
cannot go without the grace of God. This says, "See that you don't miss
God's grace."
Now, he's writing to believers here. This doesn't mean you don't become a
Christian. It means that as a believer, you need God's grace but for some
reason you don't have it. And maybe you're in a situation now like that
little boy where you've got a big rock to move and the pressure is really
heavy. And, well, maybe there's a family problem, or there's this
financial boulder to move, you've got medical responsibilities, whatever
is crushing you right now. But God's grace is supposed to be sufficient,
right? What happened? Why is this so hard? Well, maybe you're missing the
grace of God. How do you do that?
Well, listen to the second half of the verse, "...and see to it that no
bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." Wow! Think about
what this verse is saying.
Bitterness blocks the grace of God. Your Father cannot help you lift that
rock if there is bitterness in your heart. Now, you may not realize it;
you may not call it that, but bitterness has taken root. You've been under
all this pressure, and maybe you're angry and you're resentful toward a
family member because of their part in your frustration. Maybe you've got
bad feelings that have grown toward a teacher, an employer, a coworker who
is making your life miserable. Maybe you're even bitter toward God because
you don't understand what He's doing or why He's waiting. There's somebody
in your past, and they're just running your life basically because you
can't stop thinking about what they did to you and how you feel toward
them.
Somewhere, maybe, there's this boiling anger inside, and like a great
cloud that suddenly blocks out the sun, your bitterness is blocking the
grace of God just when you need it most. Ironically, you've never needed
God's strength, and His closeness, and His peace more than you do now.
This rock is too heavy for you, but your prayer seems hollow and you feel
so alone, even at the breaking point. Maybe it's because you've got some
forgiving to do, some letting go of a hurt, trusting God to meet out
justice to make things right.
Your Father is standing there ready to help as only He can, but you've got
to release that bitterness that's making your burden so much heavier. Why
carry that load too? Your Father wants to trade your bitterness for His
energizing grace. At North Royalton Christian Church we strive to have an
atmosphere that reflects that very grace of God...come and worship...come
and fellowship with us that we might be of help and service to each other.
See you in Church,
Rev. Chuck
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