My grace is sufficient for you, for
my power is made perfect in weakness.
(2 Cor. 12:9 NIV)
Some years
ago, my family of native Floridians who had never seen more than a bucketful of
snow in our lives, decided that it would be a great adventure to take a winter
vacation and learn to ski. Snow ski. Most of the group took to the slopes like
champs, as if they had been born to the mountains.
Not this
one. Do you know how fearful a mountain
looks when it’s covered with snow and the sport is to maneuver your way to the
bottom with boards on your feet? One
truth finally stuck in my brain, thanks to a caring and patient ski
instructor: don’t think about the whole
mountain. All you are to think about is
this piece right in front of you. With
her help and the great grace of Almighty God, I made it down several mountains
over the course of several ski trips.
There were more than a few falls along the way and one even required the
help of the Ski Patrol (they really didn’t have to say “We don’t get many calls
for people on the Bunny Slope!”)
From my
standpoint, this past year has been a mountain.
Like the mile-high mountains in Colorado, there is no seeing over the
next bump in the slope or what is beyond the next stand of trees and
rocks. But we are skiing on down,
maneuvering each piece as well as we can with that wonderful gift from God
called Grace. The peaks are fearsome:
COVID, a church in transition, personal relationships, grief for those who were
lost during the year. The list varies
with each person. Day by day, hour by
hour, with each breath we take we simply have no choice but to keep on. Had we known how long the pandemic would
upheave the world, we would have said, “O no…I can’t do that.”
A young
Christian writer named Morgan Harper Nichols said it this way:
A year ago, you did not know
today.
You did not know how you’d make it
here.
But you made it here.
By Grace, you made it here.
If we are Christians, we made it
here because we know the One who sees over the bumps, around the trees and
rocks, and all the way to the bottom of the mountain and beyond. It’s called Grace.
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
Sue Holbrook is the author of three books: Faith Breezes: Glimpsing God's Glory in Every Day Life; Cradle and Cross: Reflections of Christmas and Easter; and Encounters: A Savior Walks the World.
All are available on amazon.com.