Grace Spilled Over

It’s been a wild, wonderful and amazing year! I’ve traveled to ten countries, took just about every mode of transportation known to man – a motorcycle, a boat, tuc tucs, trains, planes, subways, cars, vans, and taxis. I gazed upon the Adriatic Sea, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific.

The breathtaking beauty of God’s creation is awe-inspiring but even more than this is the real true beauty I have seen in the people I have met along the way. People who have recklessly abandoned their own comfort and said YES to God. People who are following with their whole hearts. Men and women totally sold-out to Jesus Christ. And I have been wrecked and humbled by their obedience, their willingness to sacrifice ALL for the gospel.

As I step into this New Year, I want to be ALL-IN. I’ve increasingly discovered over this past year that my battle to be ALL-IN lies within my all-consuming desire for comfort. And so this year, I have chosen as my Word-for-the-Year: Unsettled. I feel much the same way I did when I chose the word DARE in 2016. Sheer terror. But I’m pushing past the fear because I know this is where God will do His purifying work in my heart. This is where He wants me to be.

Jesus told His followers in Luke 9. 23-24, “If you truly desire to be my disciple, you must disown your life completely, embrace my ‘cross’ as your own, and surrender to my ways. For if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for my glory, you will embark on a discovery of more and more of true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep.” (The Passion Translation)

And in verse fifty-eight of that same chapter Jesus again talks about the cost of following Him when He says, “remember this: even animals in the field have holes in the ground to sleep in and birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has no place here to lay down his head.” And in verse 62, “Why do you keep looking backward to your past and have second thoughts about following me? When you turn back you are useless to God’s kingdom realm.”

Our love of comfort makes it easier to trust ourselves rather than God. Our need for comfort keeps us safe and mediocre. Our desire for comfort above-all-else pushes us to settle for less than what God intends.

I refuse to let comfort be my God.

So with more than a little trepidation, I reach out my hand and take the Hand of my Father knowing He loves me as far as the East is from the West, and I embrace the UNSETTLED place because this is where LIFE is found!

Spilling His Grace,

kristi