Gathering Grace

Hello, sweet friend, and let me wish you a Happy Mother’s Day weekend!

I know this holiday can overflow with various conflicting emotions—so I pray your heart and soul feel the peace and comfort of Jesus.

To mark this weekend, I’m excited to share a guest devotion from my best friend—my mama! She’s a woman of many talents and a deep, abiding faith. Recently the Lord gave her some beautiful truths that have ministered mightily to my weary heart.

So, I wanted to share her words with you because they’ve helped me tremendously in recent weeks—and I believe they can encourage your faith, too.

With Grace,

One morning, I was up in my office, spending time with the Lord and reading his Word. I was troubled by the past few weeks’ events with my grandson Isaiah. He is a special needs child with genetic anomalies that cause intense anxiety. This anxiety causes outbursts whenever and wherever he feels out of control by his circumstances.

To say this is difficult is an understatement, and my daughter is worn thin by the constant turmoil. So I talked to the Lord about all this and said: “Lord, how is she going to do this for the rest of her life?”

Here is what He said:

Grace is like manna—you have to gather it each day early in the morning. What you collect will be enough for that day. It won’t run out by lunch or late afternoon. There will be a total supply for the needs of each day. But it has to be gathered—every day.

Wow—I surely didn’t expect that answer! But as I thought about all the implications of what He said, I realized how profound His response was.

As manna was God’s provision for his children in a desert, grace is His provision for his children here and now. Though we don’t live in a desert, it surely can feel like one where there is no “food” or “water.” And that’s why spending the first part of each day with Him in prayer and Bible reading is so critical. This is where we gather the grace to meet the demands of this one day.

It doesn’t get delivered to our doorstep—we must collect it.

And just like manna, whether we gather little or much, it is always the right amount of grace for that day. We don’t gather up a lot of grace on Monday and expect it to last all week. Instead, gathering grace should be a daily habit. There is no need to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own—yet thankfully, each day also has its own supply of grace.

Are you feeling exhausted from the struggle and wondering how you will make it? Have you been to Jesus this morning to gather the grace he willingly supplies? Friend, let the Lord provide all your needs according to His riches in glory. He has all you need!!

Some scriptures for further meditation:

• 2 Corinthians 12:9
• 1 Peter 5:7
• Philippians 4:19
• Hebrews 4:16
• Exodus 16:4
• Mark 1:35
• Psalm 68:79