Our wondrous God is so faithful, and He uses many avenues to speak into our lives.
I had been involved in leading a weekly meeting at my church, but there were factors in this situation which were not easy to deal with, and I was struggling. I was sharing this with a dear friend, and she said to me, "Why don't you pray and ask the Lord if His grace is in this situation for you. If it isn't then you should leave, because you will only get hurt."
I knew immediately that this was God's direction, so that night I did indeed pray that prayer. But, as often is the case, He didn't asnwer me right then, nor did He answer me in a way which I expected.
Several weeks later a lady came into our meeting, carrying some peonies in a jar and gave me the flowers. Because my mind was full just then before the meeting, I didn't recall her comments to me. And after the meeting I couldn't recall even who brought them to me. I was frustrated, but I took them home and enjoyed them.
A couple of months later I was sitting in church, and the lady next to me started talking about the peonies. Then I finally knew who they had come from. She said she brought them to me because there were FIVE large blooms on ONE stem, and it reminded her of the grace of God. She only brought the one stem, but it was a whole bouquet!
This, then, was God's answer to my prayer. I knew without a doubt that His grace was there for me in this situation. The large size of the blooms reminded me of how big our God is, and the beauty and fragrance of the fluffy, light pink blooms reminded me of the sweetness and gentleness of His caring.
How beautiful is the love of God shown to us by His grace.
"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."
Ephesians 4:7 KJV
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness....."
Ephesians 12:9 KJV
© 2006 Arlene Schwartzkopf