Good parenting lives at the intersection of a humble admission of personal powerlessness and a confident rest in the power and grace of God.

Think about this. The One who created and controls the world, the One who is the ultimate definition of what is loving, true, and good, and the One who alone has the power to finally defeat sin has chosen, because of his grace, to wrap his arms of faithful love and protection around you, and he will not let you go. You can take your life off your shoulders because God has placed it on his.

Self-righteousness crushes prayer, reducing it to an empty religious recitation spoken by one who sees himself as a grace graduate. Run to Jesus in your poverty and weakness, and know that he is never revolted when you do, but always greets you with arms of grace.

In your weakness, worry, doubt, and fear, he pleads to the Father in your defense.

Think about this. The One who created and controls the world, the One who is the ultimate definition of what is loving, true, and good, and the One who alone has the power to finally defeat sin has chosen, because of his grace, to wrap his arms of faithful love and protection around you, and he will not let you go.

Suffering doesn't make us weak; it simply exposes the weaknesses that have been there all along. It exposes the delusion of our sovereignty and independent capability.

We need more than acceptance or practical strategies for change. We need the forgiveness, deliverance, and empowerment that only God's grace can give.

Pastor, your eternal future carries with it the sure promise that you will have all the grace you need to do what you've been called to do between the time you came to Christ and the time you will go home to be with him forever.

If you're God's child, you will never again have just you to depend on. No, you've been blessed, right here, right now, with grace.

Our problem is that we tend to be unfaithful to his holy agenda and get kidnapped by our plans for us and our dreams for our lives. The trials in our lives exist not because he has forgotten us, but because he remembers us and is changing us by his grace. When you remember that, you can have joy in the middle of what is uncomfortable.

It's never hopeless and you're never helpless if Immanuel has invaded your life with his glory and grace.

Since God writes your story, he knows what you're facing and exactly what grace you'll need to live his way.