Harmony of Grace

Mark 8:31-33 One of the most common misconceptions about Christianity is that a Christian's life will be easy. Many people who come to faith in Christ are shocked when their life is not suddenly easier than it was before. Jesus himself spoke about experiencing suffering and his disciples did not like it. When Jesus told them that he would suffer many things and that he would be rejected and eventually killed, Peter took him aside and rebuked him. Jesus replies with possibly one of the greatest lines in all of Scripture: "Get behind me, Satan!" Obviously, Jesus did not think that Peter was literally the prince of darkness, but Jesus' response shows us that Peter did not understand the ways of God. This misconception about a Christians life becoming easier goes further in that many people claim that Christians should always put on a brave face and constantly be happy, no matter what is going on in their lives. This false belief that a Christian should always be happy is...

Pink and Khalid sing a beautiful song that talks about how it hurts to be human. To struggle is to experience a core part of what it means to be human. Even before you were formed in your mother's womb, you had to struggle through countless obstacles, fending off 250 million other sperm to win the race and make it into this world.  Every day, I watch my 7-week old daughter struggle (with wailing and tears) as she tries to communicate her needs to us. In a few months, she will no doubt struggle to get acquainted with her limbs as she attempts (and fails many times) to crawl and walk. Some of life's struggles are necessary for efficient development. Some may seem pointless, or even unfair. Yet, we can take encouragement that human beings have proven to be able to endure great struggles. The bible is full of stories of great men and women who endured great struggles, both internal and external, for the cause of Christ. I think of Jesus' life and ministry on Earth. No other hum...

Image Source:  Zhang Kaiyv Last week, I wrote about visiting sacred spaces where we are instantly more aware of God's presence with us. You can read that post here:  Sacred Spaces It is great to withdraw to the Sacred Spaces in our lives where we best encounter God. Unfortunately, it is not possible to stay there forever. In the story of Jesus’ transfiguration ( Matthew 17:1-9 ), Peter wants to set up tents on the mountain to prolong his sacred encounter. Peter was the first of many to try and make his sacred space more permanent. When I was sitting on the mountain at the minister's retreat two weeks ago, I would have loved to have stayed in that moment for hours. However, it was starting to get dark and I had another session to get back to. As much as we would like to, no-one gets to stay on the mountain forever. All of us that meet with God in “Sacred Spaces” have to eventually return to the real world. Often, the real world is not a nice place to be. There is ...

Image Source:  Jason Blackeye All of our favourite stories have happy endings. However, just because a story has a happy ending, does not necessarily ensure that it is a good story. The greatest storytellers understand that stories need to have lows as well as highs, anti-climax as well as climax, conflict as well as resolution. Try to imagine a story that never had any moments of conflict or struggle. The protagonist is born into a loving, wealthy family, she never fails at anything and she dies rich at an old age having achieved all of her dreams. First, the entertainment value of this story is not very high. I don't think there would be any major film studios battling for the rights to turn it into a movie. Second, I don't think that the protagonist in this story would appreciate their wealth and success because they had never experienced a life without it. A happy ending in and of itself does not make a good story unless there were serious moments of conflict that...