Give Yourself Grace When You Think You Least Deserve It
"Treat Yo Self With Some Grace" by Brittany JordanEven at the age of 27, this is still one of the areas that I’m growing in. I prayed last week: “Lord, you are kind. I want to be more like you. Lord help me to love my enemies, do good unto others, bless those who curse me, and pray for those who treat me poorly. I will extend grace and mercy unto myself and unto others. I’ve been through so much, but I’ve never come out thirsty. Help me to always drink from your well that never runs dry and has a surplus to sustain me. Amen.” You can’t give yourself grace, until you have a cup of Jesus. And the beautiful thing about this cup is that you can have it in the morning, but you can also sip on the cup that was prepared for that morning throughout your workday. I currently reside in Birmingham, AL but I actually work in Tuscaloosa, AL. My workday starts at 8 AM and if I plan to be on time, I need to be on the road by 6:45 AM. My first alarm goes off at 5 AM, and sometimes God wakes me up earlier. This has been my daily routine since October 2017 and I’d be lying if I told you that I have quiet time with Jesus every morning before I leave for work. God is preparing me for something greater, so He has graced me in this season to wake up early enough to prepare a cup that I’ll need to sip from throughout the day. Once I’m on the road, I’m going to have to sit in traffic. Extra time to sip some more and extend grace to a few people who need to merge in my lane. When I arrive at work with a few minutes to spare, as I’m setting up, I sip some more and and ask that my patience be strengthened as I work unto the Lord wholeheartedly. And if there be any issues, that I lean not on my own understanding, but that my heart’s desire be to bring clarity and understanding to each situation, so I lean over and sip on Jesus some more. We offer four different tour times throughout the day with mini breaks in between. Around 10:30 AM, I have a break to respond to emails. This is also a long enough break for me to update my planner. And because my planner is full of scripture, I’m able to sip on Him some more. My next tour starts at 1 PM and the last tour starts at 2:30 PM. And because my workday doesn’t end until 4:45 PM, I can close out my day reflecting, if I stayed on task and completed all of my work assignments. I now have the opportunity to look in the mirror to see what I can do differently tomorrow to be a better ambassador for Christ. I may realize that I need more refills. I may see that I received more refills on social media than what I needed for the day. I may also realize how with either every sip, my level of patience grew. How with every sip, my vision became clearer. And how with every sip, the end result was an extension of His grace for me. Your workday may be more complex than mine, but I would encourage you to sip on His goodness when you get a chance to break away. When you sip, He pours. Not only will you receive His grace, but you will find ways to extend grace unto others. I’m so grateful at the fact that God has me in position to pour daily, but also in position to see how much more of an impact I have on others when I take the time to sip on more of Him. God loves you and I can promise that He doesn’t want you to operate without His grace, but that He also will not push the refill button for you. Oh but if you ask the Father for a drink, it shall be given unto you. I look at my life and I have experienced so much more out of each opportunity when I went in for a sip but came out needing another refill. You need the refills, you need to sip daily, and you need Jesus more… to give yourself more grace! And for every time you view yourself as a failure, tell yourself you just need a cup of grace with Jesus in your face. Sipping away on His word forever more, Brittany Jordan#BNspired2dayRead more from Brittany Jordan at https://bnicolejordan.wordpress.com/