I would like to venture off the main topics of this blog for today and talk about the grace of God. My pastor, Preston Morrison of Gateway Church, recently gave a sermon on Psalms 139. I took some things away from his message that I think apply to the holiday season that is just around the corner and felt compelled to share them with you.
I know people joke about how stressful the holidays are, but it isn’t always a joke for some. I come from a family of divorce, so in the past, holidays truly have been a constant balancing act. Many others struggle with the same problem. Well this year, I am going to try and make it through the holidays reciting Psalms 139:5 which says, “God goes before you and behind you.” God’s hand and blessing is always on us and sometimes we take it for granted because we forget that it’s there. If you ask for his help and guidance, he is always there to help and your journey will be that much easier. I admit that I often suffer from anxiety because I forget to ask for His help, but this year I am not going to make that mistake when it comes to the tightrope acts I like to call Thanksgiving and Christmas.
When listening to Pastor Morrison’s sermon, he was talking about how God is always there to protect us from something bad even when we don’t realize that we are in danger. When told a story about when he was younger and how he fell several stories off the back of some bleachers at a circus, he landed completely unharmed on his feet. God was there to land before him so nothing tragic would happen. While hearing this, I immediately thought of a time last year when I was so close to being hit by a car my heart was racing for the next hour. I was attending a wedding in Little Rock and it was raining cats and dogs. I had on a cute new pair of cream silk wedges and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin my shoes or get my hair wet. My mom and I had parked across the street and I was running as fast as I could to get in to the church and out of the rain. I waited to cross the street until I thought it was safe before running across like a crazy person, shoes flying through the air. As soon as I was in the middle of the median, a car came flying passed. My body leaned forward and was literally pulled back by the grace of God. As I felt the gush of wind come at me from the high speed of the car, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I got to the church and was speechless for the first time in my life. I was so panicked and freaked out over what could have happened that my heart didn’t stop pounding throughout the entire ceremony. I will never forget the feeling I had and after hearing this sermon, the only reason I did not end up in the hospital or morgue that day was because God went before me and stopped me from being hit.
I know that was a long story but I am sure that while you were reading it, you could think of a scenario when the same thing happened to you. The point that I am trying to make is that we are never alone. While we are stressing about the upcoming holiday seasons, just stop to ask for God’s help and everything will be okay. According to Pastor Morrison, “God is the ultimate gangster. His eyes are always on you and He watches every thing you do.” Don’t be arrogant and think you can do everything on your own because no mater how much you think you can, at the end of the day you can’t. Remember that God’s grace supersedes all of our arrogance and mistakes, but there is no reason to try and do a balancing act without his help – all you have to do is ask.
‘Tis the season to be merry!
What is your story? Can you think of a time when something bad should have happened, but He was there to go before you?
