Grace that replenishes

"Love is found in the things we've given up, more than in the things we've kept."

-Rich Mullins

I took this picture last fall in Rocky Mountain National Park. I look at it and wonder, "How can something so delicate grow in something so rugged, rough and untouchable?" I'm amazed. Even rocks have spaces waiting to be filled. Even something as infertile and unforgiving as a stone has enough to nurture, support, and sustain the plants and trees that adorn it. Living, colorful foliage fill in the scars that have been dealt over time.

Despair is easy to flirt with when pain brings fissures to the surface. But something I see the clearest in our situation is that God has showed us those cracks, those imperfections, all so that He can fill them.

If we don't see our gaps, we don't see our need for a God. If we don't see our need, we don't cherish that relationship or set aside time to nurture it. It's that simple. In Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the farmer sowing his seed. In verse 6, the seed that fell on stone indeed grew, but withered because of a lack of moisture.

Nothing good and lasting can grow from our suffering and conflict if we don't seek replenishment in His presence. Rocks don't move unless they are shaken. Voids cannot fill before the soil within them is stirred and awoken. What would have to happen in our lives before we would thirst for Him in every moment of the day? I ask myself that all the time.

Everyday the holes, scars, and imperfections are clear. Watch the news. Listen to a friend. Kneel at a deathbed. Spend time in a different culture. It all  stares me in the face. But everyday God moves me. Everyday He fills my cup. Everyday He sustains me. My need for Him is great and my dependence on Him is constant. These may be my circumstances but Colossians 3:3-4 tells me He is my LIFE! This eternal abundance has all come through lost and broken secondary things.

His love and life awaits us in these deep places. We've been given hope and unencumbered joy.

May we give Him our consideration and our time. May we be the soil that is ready to receive His life. May we experience the abundance that He intended for us and is accessible through His Son. And may we seek to give Him glory in how we live, speak, and love.

Copyright 2018 ->Renee Sunberg