In my determination to sort out and simplify my life, I decided to have a yard sale. While excavating through my mounds of boxed treasures, I found a plaque that had been a gift from a woman whom my children lovingly call “Grandma Mary.” The words once again challenged my heart.
The will of God will never lead you
where the grace of God cannot keep you.
I have desired to walk in God’s will since I was a little girl. Being saved at a very early age, I grew up wanting to know and obey God’s will for my life. But there have been times that in spite of my confidence that I was in His will, I felt the burdens seemingly overwhelm me. During a particularly difficult time, I was unable to define God’s grace. Yet this grace of God was what I heard would carry me through whatever I faced. I began a study—a searching—to understand what the sustaining grace of God really meant. I found many—sixty-three definitions—all of which described this commonly used biblical term. But my inquiring heart was settled when I put the various definitions into a nutshell: God’s grace is His enabling power that is given to me, His undeserving child.
Now as I read the words on this forgotten little plaque, the meaning is deeper. I realize that He’s proven it again and again in my life. I may not think He’s keeping me in the midst of the trial, but never has He forsaken me, never allowed me to be crushed by the burden He has permitted. He is there moment by moment—guiding me. Keeping me. Sustaining me. In spite of my resistance and fear. The words on this plaque are unchanged as they hang on the wall of my office. But the meaning is clearer to me now than ever before.
The will of God will never lead me
where the . . . [power] of God cannot keep me.
[Excerpt adapted from A Life Exalted by June Kimmel (Lesson 8, pp. 62–63). A free study guide can be downloaded from bjupress.com.]