Harmony of Grace

Image Source:  Jesse Orrico I have written often about experiencing God's grace in the world around us. But one of the greatest elements of the Jesus story is that we are able to partner with God in order to share God's grace with others. There are many ways that we are able to do this - one of the primary being through our responsibilities to others. Responsibility is not a word that generally excites us. It does not necessarily spark feelings of joy. Often, our responsibilities are not thrilling activities. Our lives are filled with menial work: chores, paying bills, lifting children, etc. If we resent these activities, we can easily begin resenting the people that we are doing them for. For example, if we resent changing diapers, we can begin resenting the child whose diaper we are changing; if we get annoyed by listening to our friend's complaining about their problems, we can begin to be annoyed by our friend; if we hate working at our jobs, we can begi...

God's grace is evident in so many various aspects of our lives. One area where I see this is in the opportunity that we are given to enjoy life, even amidst the busyness and frustrations that we face every day. Life gets messy. We often find ourselves in situations where we are constantly being aggravated - by work, school, friends, family, even sometimes by the church. Image Source:  Joshua Earle Whatever the situation, if we spend our days frustratingly having to do things that we don't take pleasure in, we can easily feel down-heartened and it can easily feel like we are living without purpose. "There is nothing better for a person than he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This is God's gift to man." - Ecclesiastes 2:24 (ESV) One of God's many gifts to us is our ability to find happiness and enjoyment even during the busy, demanding periods of our lives. I have met a number of people who live out this value in their lives...