Gracia Suficiente

Do you ever wonder why God would love us so much that he would send his one and only son to die for us? Honestly, I never really questioned his actions. Since I was little I can remember being told the story from beginning to end of how Jesus came to the earth and eventually died and resurrected and how he will come again. I never questioned why he died or why God would do something of the sort. As I've grown older and 'wiser', you can say, I've come to realize that this does not make any sense at all. The God all-mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, the Creator of everything, the Author of Life; did he really send Jesus, his son, to die for me and the rest of the world? He sent him to die so I can have eternal life with them for eternity. All of this and God's love and grace wasn't something that I questioned so much in my life as I do now. Today I am many years older than my younger self and have many more questions but also have learned many things along with some answers.

Sometimes as humans we are simply imperfect. The way God created us is perfect in every way, we were designed and made in his image. Even so, we are still imperfect. We will always mess up something in someway. So when I, as a human and as a Christian, seem to mess up, I will always feel as if I am a failure or as if I am not good enough to meet the "standards" of Christianity.

This past week I was able to share with our youth group a message on the mistakes we make in life and how those mistakes do not define who we are or how we will live the rest of our lives. Sometimes we do things that we wish we could take back or undo if at all possible. The fact of the matter is that it's set in stone already. You can't take anything back but you can move on from it. And this is the point precisely where many of us are stuck at. We become entangled in the idea that we cannot keep moving forward or that we don't deserve to receive God's grace or forgiveness. It's a hard thing to grasp for us. Just think about it, us as humans want to punish anyone when they mess up or when they do wrong. There are always consequences for the choices we make of course, but even God works that way. God says that those he loves he corrects and if he does ever correct you or discipline you to not become angry or resentful, because what parent who love their child does not discipline him or her? This is what we need to understand; that when we mess up, make mistakes, or go the wrong way, God will correct us and He will discipline us in any way that He wishes to do so. With that said, we need to accept his discipline like a child knows when he does wrong and that he/she will be punished for it. So again, when we can't seem to move on from our mistakes or feel that we don't deserve God's grace, know that if you have a repenting heart that seeks after God, he will forgive you but there just might be a consequence to deal with later. Nothing ever goes unnoticed in God's view. Sometimes we think God is not watching us because we can't physically see him in our sight and so we do stupid things thinking that nobody is watching. What a mistake that is for us!

God's grace and forgiveness is pure and plenty. He wants nothing more than the best for us but also at the same time He wants us to seek him and find him in all our ways. In life as we seek Him and find Him we will make many mistakes and take wrong turns. Eventually we will enter into his kingdom and be glad we found Him. And just as God's grace is sufficient and plentiful so is His wrath. God's wrath is not something that many people speak of or like hearing about but it's very true and very present. God's wrath will come on those that do not obey his word and who go against Him. Let us be careful where we stand and who we stand with and how we live our lives.