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Fear, Grace, The Gift of Grace, Words of Endurance

Extending God’s Grace

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April 17, 2012

- Category : Fear, Grace, The Gift of Grace, Words of Endurance

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Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others,
as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
1 PETER 4:10



During our time through the valley of suffering, both Dave and I were in great need of God’s Grace and the extension of His Grace to one another. Both of us exposed our weaknesses like never before. For me it was fear and depression – for Dave it was anger.



During that season Dave aimed his anger and verbal abuse at our children and me. It was like walking on eggshells in our house. No one wanted to upset the apple cart or cross Dave in the wrong way because we knew what the result would be – an explosion of anger and rage.



Looking back I should have thought that this was not fair. Here I was – selflessly taking care of him – loving him through his pain and yet he was taking his pain out on me – I did not deserve it. But even though I hated his behavior my response was not anger at him – I felt sorry for him.



Many have asked me how I could show such compassion after the way he was treating me but the reason was that I knew his heart. I knew that he did not want to respond in that way but he could not control it. After each explosion he always expressed so much remorse.



I knew that at the root of Dave’s anger was fear, frustration and hurt. I knew that he was unable to cry to express those emotions. The only way for him to express his unrelenting pain was anger.



I also knew that I was a child of God who sins– an undeserving recipient of God’s Grace – for which I was eternally thankful. Because I knew how much I have been forgiven and I was aware of how God’s Grace had been extended to me – it was not difficult for me to extend that same grace to Dave.



Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.
EPHESIANS 4:32



We continue to be “faithful stewards of God’s grace” through the ministry of Endurance to those who are in the midst of suffering. At Endurance we know that we all have weaknesses and those weaknesses are magnified and exposed during seasons of suffering – a needed time for God’s Grace. We extend His Grace to you.



However, I consider my life worth nothing to me;
my only aim is to finish the race
and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—
the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
ACTS 20:24



God appoints our graces to be nurses to other men’s weaknesses.
HENRY WARD BEECHER



On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky

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Fear, Grace, Healing, The Gift of Grace, Words of Endurance

Receiving God’s Grace in My Weakness

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April 16, 2012

- Category : Fear, Grace, Healing, The Gift of Grace, Words of Endurance

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“My grace is all you need.
My power works best in weakness.”
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 (NLT)



During our time of suffering many of my fleshly weaknesses and sins were exposed. After two and a half years of Godly counseling & therapy though I thought that I had come out on the other side of that valley totally renewed – free from my sins and weaknesses. NOT!!!!!!! (Oh God forgive me for my youth and naivety!)



Now as I have grown older I am more aware of my weaknesses and the sin that still exists within me. This has caused me much frustration and shame. Oh, how I identify with the Apostle Paul when he said …



I want to do what is good, but I don’t.
I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong;
it is sin living in me that does it.
I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right,
I inevitably do what is wrong.
I love God’s law with all my heart.
But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.
This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
Oh, what a miserable person I am!
ROMANS 7:19-24 (NLT)



What a dilemma! Now I knew that I needed to repent of my sin but I always believed that true repentance was admitting my sin and then consciously making a 180-degree turn away from that sin. I have sincerely done this a thousand times but oh the guilt that I experienced every time I would fall again. I felt hopeless because I was unable to fix myself – instead of turning to God I turned away from God in shame. But I have since come to agree with the Apostle Paul when he concluded …



Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
ROMANS 7:24-25 (NLT)



Amen!!! Thank you Jesus – the answer is You! But I still wanted to know how to resolve my sin dilemma.



Well, I have recently learned that true repentance is going before God – admitting my sin, weaknesses and my inability to resolve them in my own power. Instead of turning away from God – I turn to Him because I know that the only resolution to sin will come through His grace, His power and His Strength within me. I trust the words of Paul …



And I am certain that God,
who began the good work within you,
will continue his work until it is finally finished
on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
PHILIPPIANS 1:6 (NLT)



I no longer am frustrated by my weakness but I humbly turn them over to God, receive His Grace and trust Him to continue the good work within me



I love it when the Scripture validates my own personal experience. The Apostle Paul was one of the most gifted and influential Christians in recorded history. God used him to firmly establish and expand the early church. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he penned most of the New Testament Epistles. He is regarded by most scholars as one of the strongest examples of a true Christian. Yet Paul had a major weakness.



Paul was given a “thorn” in his flesh. We do not know if this was a physical or an emotional weakness but we do know that he was “tormented” by the “thorn”. He pleaded three times for the “Lord to take it away from me.”



But God’s response was no. God allowed Paul’s torment, his weakness to, remain. God knew that Paul’s weakness kept him dependent upon Him for strength and grace. God also knew that Paul’s weakness spared him from self-dependence and pride because Paul knew how much he needed God’s Grace.



It is no different for us. We need God’s grace. No matter how disappointed we may be in our failures and weaknesses, God is gracious and generous in dispensing His grace to us. Our human frailty is not an affront to Him – “He remembers that we are dust.” The more we lack, the more His grace will fill us.



When we turn to Him, admit our weaknesses and limitations to God, we take the first step toward receiving His all-sufficient grace. No wonder Paul found delight in his weaknesses and difficulties. He knew what when he was weak; God’s grace would make him even stronger. I am so glad to proclaim as Paul did …



So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ can work through me.
That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses,
and in the insults, hardships, persecutions,
and troubles that I suffer for Christ.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10 (NLT)



On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky

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Grace, Grief, Healing, Hope, The Gift of Grace, Trust, Words of Endurance

Discovering God’s Grace

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April 4, 2012

- Category : Grace, Grief, Healing, Hope, The Gift of Grace, Trust, Words of Endurance

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Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
2 CORINTHIANS 9:13



Thirty-one years ago I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and my world was rocked and changed forever. I received the gift of salvation with such joy and excitement – I wanted everyone to experience that same joy. So with great exuberance, I shared the Gospel with everyone that crossed my path!



One problem though was when I became a Christian I did not understand God’s Gift of Grace. While I was always able to extend Grace to others especially those who were suffering – I was not able to extend that same Grace to my family or receive His Grace myself. UNTIL …



Last year when I was looking for a Christian book to read while I was traveling, I asked God to lead me to something new and inspiring. As I scanned my bookshelves I noticed a book entitled TrueFaced. Now this book had been on my shelf for seven years and I had never read it. Why was I now drawn to it? I did not know at the time – but I took it off the shelf and put it in my brief case to read on my flight.



As I read the book I immediately knew why God led me to this book. The book presented two paths – “The Path of Pleasing God” and “The Path of Trusting God”. I was immediately drawn to “The Path of Pleasing God.” After all, I thought, wasn’t that the more admirable path?



My eyes were opened when “The Path of Pleasing God” led me to “The Room of Good Intentions” and the word over the doorknob was “Self Effort”.



I realized that …


  • Self-effort was the story of my life – putting forth the effort to please God. This led to weariness and emptiness.


  • I was “striving hard to be all God wants me to be” but I was never able to achieve God’s standard. This led to frustration and guilt.


  • I was “working on my sin to achieve an intimate relationship with God” but when I would always fall short that was when I turned away from God in shame.


  • “Increasingly the path to pleasing God seems to be about how I can keep God pleased with me” and because I could not resolve my sin in my own power it caused me to put on masks to hide those sins. At least when I wore the masks I would be accepted in my Christian community.


  • My life equation was “more right behavior + less wrong behavior = Godliness.” The problem was my wrong behavior often outweighed my right behavior leading to more frustration, guilt and shame. But then “The Path of Trusting God” led me to the “Room of Grace” and the word over the this doorknob was “Humility.”




    • I was humbled as I learned that …


  • “We can never resolve our sin by working on it” – only God can resolve our sin – this leads us to victory.


  • “Only by trusting can we truly please God. If our primary motive is pleasing God, we’ll never please Him enough and we’ll never learn trust. Pleasing God is a good desire. It just can’t be our primary motivation or it’ll imprison our hearts” and cause us to wear masks and not be real.


  • “Until you trust God nothing you do will please God.” I am going to trust Him to deliver me from my sin.


  • “Pleasing is not a means to our godliness. It is the fruit of our godliness, for it’s the fruit of trust.”


  • True Grace was “Standing with God, my sin in front of us, working on it together.”




    • Answer this question:
    Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you?



    The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right:



    “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real
    life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith,
    but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping,
    a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”
    GALATIANS 3:5-6,11-12 (THE MESSAGE)



    Because of these revelations from God through this book, I have become a different man. God’s Grace has set me free from striving and it relieved my guilt and shame at my inability to live the perfect life. It allowed me to remove my masks so that I could trust God and others with who I truly am – warts and all. It caused me to throw myself at the feet of Jesus where I know Jesus will empathize with my weakness and I will receive His mercy and grace.



    Once again my world has been rocked and changed forever – so with great joy, excitement and exuberance – I share God’s Grace with you!



    For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our
    weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way,
    just as we are—yet he did not sin.
    Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,
    so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
    HEBREWS 4:15-16



    On the journey with you,
    Dave Dravecky



    (Quotations are excerpts taken from “The Cure” which is the recently updated version of “TrueFaced.”)

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    Grace, Grief, Healing, The Gift of Grace, Words of Endurance

    Discovering God’s Grace

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    March 27, 2012

    - Category : Grace, Grief, Healing, The Gift of Grace, Words of Endurance

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    And God is able to make all grace abound to you.
    2 CORINTHIANS 9:8



    One of the most enlightening and freeing times in my personal spiritual journey was when I began discovering the gift of God’s grace. I knew that God had extended His grace to the whole human race by sending His Son, Jesus, to die as payment for our sins and to rise again so that we could have eternal life with God. But deep inside I still operated in the belief that God’s love for me had everything to with how well I performed. So when I accepted Jesus as my Savior, God’s name was added to the top of a long list of people I felt that I needed to please – people whose love I had to earn.



    God didn’t allow me to operate in that belief for very long, however. While Dave and I lived in Puerto Rico, where Dave played winter ball, we participated in a Bible study on the book of Ephesians. Through that study I came to realize that God’s love for me had nothing to do with how well I performed nor was it about the works I did for Him. In fact, I learned that I couldn’t do anything to earn God’s love.



    For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—
    and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
    not by works, so that no one can boast.
    EPHESIANS 2:8-9



    God also knew I needed more than a revelation about His grace – I needed an object lesson. That lesson came in the form of our daughter Tiffany – who was born with a strong will. No matter how many times her will and my will collided or how unlovely she acted – my love for Tiffany was totally unaffected by her actions. My love for her amazed me and for the first time I began to understand God’s grace. Because I had such great love and grace for my child, I was finally able to understand God’s love for me as His child in spite of my weaknesses and faults.



    Years later, when Dave and I went through our times of personal suffering, grace once again played a key role in my spiritual journey. Like many people who endure the varied trials that come with a cancer diagnosis, we lost control of our lives. We were hurting. We weren’t fun to be around. We didn’t look like model Christians any longer. The ugliness of pain and suffering was clearly visible in our lives. We were ashamed – we needed grace.



    Although many people in our lives at that time were unable to extend that grace to us – we thank God that a few of his children extended His grace to us. They forgave, accepted and loved us as we were – with all of our pain, ugliness, anger, doubt and shame.



    Instead of telling us what we should or shouldn’t do – they let us vent and they listened. Instead of condemning us – they validated our feelings and were truly sorrowful with us over what we were going through – they wept with us. Instead of abandoning us because we were not being “very Christ-like” – they stood by us and helped see us safely through to the other side. Healing came as grace was given to us.



    We learned firsthand what a gift is when grace was extended to us during our time of suffering. We all need someone to reach out to us with God’s gift of grace. Grace lifts us up and gives us hope.



    Grace has been called “the glue that mends our brokenness,” and in suffering our brokenness is fully exposed. Grace, then, is indispensable in times of affliction. Grace says, “I love you warts and all. I understand that pain has stripped away the veneer that covers your raw, unlovely humanity. But you are made in God’s image. You are therefore, the most precious and priceless thing in all His creation. So I will extend unwarranted love and kindness toward you because God has extended it to me.”



    And because God’s grace was extended to us in such a mighty way – we extend His grace to you.



    May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
    and the love of God,
    and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
    be with you all.
    2 CORINTHIANS 13:14



    On the journey with you,
    Jan Dravecky

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    Doubt, Endurance for the Journey, Fear, Grace, Healing, Hope, Lighten Your Load, Words of Endurance

    Lighten Your Load: Learn the Secret of Contentment

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    January 24, 2012

    - Category : Doubt, Endurance for the Journey, Fear, Grace, Healing, Hope, Lighten Your Load, Words of Endurance

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    I am not saying this because I am in need,
    for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
    I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.
    I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
    whether well fed or hungry,
    whether living in plenty or in want.
    I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
    PHILIPPIANS 4:11-13



    As a Christian athlete, whenever I was being tested physically, my mantra was always –



    “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
    PHILIPPIANS 4:13



    When I was stricken with cancer, I would recite this same verse over and over reminding myself that I, too, could overcome this new obstacle. But after several surgeries and radiation, I was seriously weakened and I began to doubt whether I had the strength to ever overcome this one. I was frustrated with my own weakness and inability to overcome.



    A friend of mine was aware of my weakened and discouraged state, and decided that I could use some encouragement. He asked his friend, Chuck Swindoll, a well-known pastor and author, to give me a call and encourage me. Since I had listened to Chuck on the radio for years and admired him greatly, I was thrilled when I answered the phone and realized it was he who was calling me.



    Chuck told me that he wanted to call and encourage me with a vignette that he was writing on Philippians 4:11-13. I remember immediately popping up and saying proudly to him that Philippians 4:13 was one of my favorite life verses.



    He responded gently back to me and said, “Yes, Dave that is a powerful verse but your emphasis should not be on verse 13 alone but also on verses 11 and 12 that proceed that verse.”



    He then shared that Paul stated that he had learned the secret of contentment no matter what his circumstances. He pointed out that Paul was under house arrest at the time. He had experienced poverty and prosperity, being filled and going hungry, having abundance and suffering need – yet in all circumstances he experienced contentment.



    Chuck then shared “Contentment is possible no matter how dire your circumstances. The secret to Paul’s contentment was knowing Christ’s strength was perfected in his weakness.” He then quoted 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 where Paul wrote:



    But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
    for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
    Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
    so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
    That is why, for Christ’s sake,
    I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
    For when I am weak, then I am strong.
    2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10



    When I considered that Christ’s strength was perfected in my weakness – my own inability to overcome – I experienced contentment because I knew I could trust Him no matter how dire my circumstances – no matter how weak I am.



    What is the secret of contentment even through the trials of life? Focus on Jesus not your circumstances.



    My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
    PSALM 73:26



    On the journey with you,
    Dave Dravecky

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    Anger, Doubt, Endurance for the Journey, Fear, Grace, Love, Next Steps, Perseverance, Words of Endurance

    Next Steps: Receive God’s Grace

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    January 9, 2012

    - Category : Anger, Doubt, Endurance for the Journey, Fear, Grace, Love, Next Steps, Perseverance, Words of Endurance

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    This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,
    for he faced all of the same testings we do,
    yet he did not sin.
    So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
    There we will receive his mercy,
    and we will find grace to help us
    when we need it most.
    HEBREWS 4:15-56



    I have always had high expectations of myself – never wanting to fail – always wanting to be strong – never weak – earning my success in the game of baseball and in my everyday life.



    All that changed when cancer entered my life. Oh, I was strong and performed well at the beginning of my journey of suffering. But as the journey took me into the wilderness and the days became long and endless, I experienced a weakness of my being that I had never felt before.



    I had a fear of death – I doubted – then felt shame for my lack of faith. I experienced frustration over my weakness and my failure to overcome. This resulted in anger – rage-filled fits – then extreme guilt over my sin. Like Adam in the Garden of Eden, my inclination was to run from God and hide.



    BUT … running and hiding from God was not the answer– in order to endure, I needed to run to Him and receive His grace even though I felt I had not earned or deserved it.



    But God loves who we really are – whether we like it or not.
    God calls us, as He did Adam, to come out of hiding.
    “Come to me now,” Jesus says.
    “Acknowledge and accept who I want to be for you:
    a Savior of boundless compassion, infinite patience,
    unbearable forgiveness, and love that keeps no score of wrongs.
    Quit projecting onto me your own feelings about yourself.
    At this moment your life is a bruised reed and I will not crush it,
    a smoldering wick and I will not quench it.
    You are in a safe place.
    BRENNAN MANNING (ABBA’S CHILD)



    God’s grace is an incredible source of fuel for endurance. It encourages us to keep going even when we stumble because we know He understands and knows our weaknesses – yet He still loves us. HE LOVES US EVEN ON OUR WORST DAY!!! This was a huge source of fuel for me to continue walking on my journey with Him knowing …



    “If we have only the will to walk, then God is pleased with my stumbles.”
    CS LEWIS



    Sometimes we are so sick and tired of stumbling that we don’t want to walk anymore. What a blessing it is to realize that all we need to have is the will to walk with Him, and God is pleased with us – even when we stumble. That’s an incredible expression of grace. That is a tremendous motivation to endure.



    The LORD makes firm the steps
    of the one who delights in him;
    though he may stumble, he will not fall,
    for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
    PSALM 37:23-24



    On the journey with you,
    Dave Dravecky

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    Grace, Healing, Relationships, Words of Endurance

    When Forgiveness Seems Impossible

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    November 26, 2011

    - Category : Grace, Healing, Relationships, Words of Endurance

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    Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
    Matthew 18:21-22



    Corrie ten Boom lost her entire family in a Nazi concentration camp. She barely escaped with her own life. After the war, she spent her life preaching throughout the world about God’s love and forgiveness. And then one day, her message faced the ultimate test.



    I saw him in a church in Munich – a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the room where I had just spoken. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.



    One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pile of clothes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. The place was Ravensbruck and the man had been a guard – one of the most cruel.



    Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “A fine message, Fraulein!” And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.



    “You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard there. But since that time, I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from you as well. Fraulein” – again the hand came out – “will you forgive me?”



    I stood there and could not forgive. My sister Betsie had died in that place – could he erase her death simply for the asking? He didn’t stand there long, but to me, it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. I had to do it – I knew that. And still, I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart.



    Jesus, help me! I prayed silently. I can lift my hand. You supply the feeling. And so mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart.” For a long moment, we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.



    But even so, I realized it was not my love. I had tried and did not have the power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Romans 5:5, “…because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”



    Condensed from “I’m Still Learning to Forgive” by Corrie ten Boom.
    Reprinted with permission from Guideposts Magazine (November 1972)
    Copyright 1972 by Guideposts, Carmel, New York 10512

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    Faith, Grace, Love, Relationships, The Treasure of Relationships, Words of Endurance

    Treasure Hunt

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    October 8, 2011

    - Category : Faith, Grace, Love, Relationships, The Treasure of Relationships, Words of Endurance

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    Next to God Himself, we need each other most.
    A.W. Tozer

    <br

    The Treasure of Deepened Relationships

    Michelle Dacus considers the time spent with her mom during her long and difficult recovery from life-threatening surgery* to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “The treasure of spending that enormous amount of time with my mom impacted our relationship for the rest of our lives. Her selflessness was amazing. I never would have known the depth of her love without this experience. One of the greatest treasures God showed me in the darkness was to spend quality time with the people you love, to invest in those relationships and not to take them for granted.”



    Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
    1 John 4:7



    The Treasure of Grace

    Karen knew about grace, but she didn’t realize what a powerful treasure it was until her best friend’s family was shattered by divorce. “Every time a family member would call, all I could do was pray under my breath for grace. I didn’t have answers, and they didn’t want them. I couldn’t share wisdom because I didn’t have any. Each family member’s faith was shaken. What they needed – the only thing I could give them – was grace. Until I walked through this devastation, I had no idea how powerful grace is or how quickly God could send grace to you and through you to nurse the wounds of the brokenhearted.”



    And God is able to make all grace abound to you.
    2 Corinthians 9:8



    The Treasure of Learning How to Love

    For more than half of their 32 years of marriage, Rick Rood cared for Polly as she battled a degenerative illness. Rick came to realize “that the burden we had been handed was also, in some mysterious way I could not yet understand, a ‘gift’ from the Lord…Five years into Polly’s illness it dawned on me what God was doing in my life…When Polly became ill, God enlisted me in a life-shaping process. Part of this process involved His gently and patiently chipping away at qualities that He knew needed to diminish in my life. The other part was gradually instilling in my heart the qualities He wanted me to acquire…the most important was love. I loved Polly before, but God used this illness to transform my love for her.”



    Love never fails…and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
    1 Corinthians 13:8,13



    The Treasure of Seeing Others Grow in their Faith


    “I wouldn’t give up one thing I have been through,” Joanie Thompson, who suffers from a chronic lung disease, explains, “if it meant my children would not know what they know today and would not have experienced what they have experienced…I watched them plead with the Lord to heal me…I’ve seen them allow the Spirit of God to empower them…and that probably is the greatest thing that compels me to keep going.”

    I will gladly spend myself and all I have for your spiritual good.
    2 Corinthians 12:15



    The Treasure of Compassion


    Before she became a quadriplegic, Joni Eareckson Tada, president of a respected and influential ministry to the disabled, confesses that she “could have cared less about people in wheelchairs. But when God awakened me from my spiritual slumber with an ice-cold splash of suffering in the face, my thinking changed real fast. God used my pain and my heartache to cause me…to care about other who are hurting.”

    He (God) comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
    2 Corinthians 1:4



    The Treasure of a Testimony


    A pastor once told his congregation, “Your best argument for your faith is your testimony: how God met you, changed you and continues to impact you daily.” Michelle Dacus would agree wholeheartedly. “My greatest tool and treasure for reaching the lost is my testimony. For the rest of my life, I’ll be using it. It’s a treasure I will pull out every day…a gift God gives me to share.”



    Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.
    Psalm 66:16

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    False Guilt, Grace, Guilt, Peace, Uncategorized, Words of Endurance

    Too Heavy a Burden

    By on

    May 31, 2011

    - Category : False Guilt, Grace, Guilt, Peace, Uncategorized, Words of Endurance

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    My guilt overwhelms me—
    it is a burden too heavy to bear.
    PSALM 38:5 (NLT)



    There is virtually no end to the things that we can feel guilty and subsequently miserable about. And if we feel guilty, most of us automatically assume that we are guilty. But like every part of our human nature, our consciences are flawed and imperfect. Sometimes we feel guilty when we are not. So it is important that we learn to distinguish between true guilt and false guilt:



    True guilt says, “I have done something wrong that I am responsible to make right.”



    False guilt says, “I feel responsible for something that is not my responsibility or is out of my control.”



    At the root of much of our false guilt is a fuzzy understanding of our responsibilities. Some of us have what can be called an overactive responsibility reflex. We think we are responsible for everything!



    I know that I experienced tremendous false guilt because of my overactive responsibility reflex. I thought that if a responsibility came across my path, it must have come from God. And because it was from God, I was responsible to take care it. I put completely unrealistic expectations on myself and felt incredibly guilty when I couldn’t meet that standard.



    Robert McGee, author of The Search for Significance, describes the responsibility trap that sets us up for false guilt as being “rooted in the false belief that we must meet certain standards to be acceptable and that the only way to deal with inadequacies is to punish others and ourselves for them. There is no way we can shoulder such a heavy burden. Our guilt will overpower us and the weight of our failures will break us.”



    Unfortunately, an overactive responsibility reflex often shifts into high gear in the face of personal crisis. False guilt continually lies waiting at the door – pointing an accusing finger that spurs its overburdened victim to assume yet another responsibility – often a responsibility that belongs to another family member, a friend, a medical professional or even to God.



    Someone suffering from any illness, for example, may feel false guilt for “being a burden” or “being self-centered” because of their needs. A caregiver may feel false guilt for having personal needs as well as for being unable to meet the needs of everyone else. Close family and friends may feel false guilt for their own good health or not being able to remove their loved one’s pain.



    In each of these situations, the individual has assumed personal responsibilities that belong to others or sought to meet an unreasonable expectation. It isn’t necessary to shoulder such heavy burdens. If you are feeling overwhelmed by guilt, ask God for wisdom and discernment.



    If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.
    JAMES 1:5 (NLT)

    Ask God to show you if you are taking on a responsibility that belongs to others or if you are feeling responsible to meet impossible expectations. If your responsibility reflex is in overdrive, it is important to learn to let go and place the responsibility where it belongs. As you do that, the burden of false guilt will diminish.



    Dear Lord,
    Thank you for loving me so much that you care about every part of me even my emotions. Please give me Your wisdom, discernment, and truth so that I don’t take on the burden of responsibilities that belong to others. Help me to have appropriate expectations so that I will avoid the trap of seeking to prove that I am acceptable. Make my heart sensitive to your leading so the I will walk confidently on the straight, safe path in the midst of this difficult time.
    Amen.



    Mark out a straight path for your feet;
    stay on the safe path.
    PROVERBS 4:26



    On the journey with you,
    Jan Dravecky

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