Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone
This was one of the most difficult articles I’ve ever written. When I faced the possibility of my children’s lives without me, the truth of God’s sovereignty didn’t give me the guarantee I desperately wanted. But I’m learning to rest in God’s character and find my hope in His rock-solid promises even when the future is uncertain.
Here’s a link to an article I have up on TableTalk Magazine’s blog today. I hope it encourages you in whatever you’re facing today.
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Have you checked out the Woven podcast? Rebecca Peet and Rebecca Cochran discuss every-day issues through the lens of their Christian faith. They’ve had so many great episodes, and I loved getting to chat with them this week. I hope you’ll listen and go subscribe to Woven!
Many of us are familiar with the parable of the unforgiving servant—the story Jesus told in Matthew 18 about the servant who had his massive debt forgiven by the king and then went out and demanded payment of a smaller debt from someone else. We often focus on the second part of the story and how wrong the forgiven servant was to not forgive the debt of another. But today I want us to consider the unbelievable forgiveness offered by the king.
Like the servant in the story, we owe the King a debt we cannot pay. We have sinned and broken God’s law, and if we had a thousand lifetimes to do good works, we would never be able to make up for the wrong we’ve done. But the good news of the Gospel is this:
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13–14)
When we were dead in our sin, God made us alive with Christ. Our debt of sin doesn’t just vanish into thin air. Someone had to pay our debt—and that someone is Jesus. When His hands and feet were nailed to the cross, our sin was nailed there with Him. The King forgives our debt because His own Son paid the price on our behalf.
If you are burdened with guilt or shame today . . .
If you are trying to earn God’s favor with your good behavior . . .
If you know you can never be good enough, because no matter how hard you try, you keep messing up . . .
This is good news for you, friend.
“My sin—oh the bliss of this glorious thought!—My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!”(Taken from the hymn It is Well by Horatio G. Stafford)
No matter what you face this week, your sin has been nailed to the cross.
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I’ve noticed a trend in my life—maybe you’ve experienced this, too. I have my eye on something new for awhile, and I finally get it. At first, my new possession makes me happy. It’s shiny and pretty, or it makes my life easier, or it’s just a fun new toy. But then I find that this new thing doesn’t bring me as much joy as it did at first. A catalog comes in the mail, or a friend gets a new car, or I notice a cute pair of boots at the mall, and suddenly there’s something else that I want.
I know it’s true, but I still so often forget: the things of this world will never truly satisfy my heart. No matter how much I get, I’ll always want more. There’s only one way to get the desires of my heart once and for all:
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
This verse doesn’t mean that if I delight myself in the Lord, I’ll get everything listed in the latest Pottery Barn catalog. But as my delight in the Lord grows, my desire will be for Him and the good gifts He gives. And He is always faithful to give us every spiritual blessing in Christ (see Ephesians 1:3).
God has given His Son to die for you. He’s given you His Spirit to dwell in you. If God gave up His own Son for you, you can have confidence that He will also give you everything else you need (see Romans 8:32).
When your desire is for the Lord, you will have all you could ever hope for. When God gives you Himself, He also gives you His strength, His peace, His joy, His promises fulfilled, and eternity with Him.
No matter what you face this week, delight in the Lord who has given Himself to you.
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