Monday, July 11, 2011

Porn, Pain, Problems...and Grace:



Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Nothing surprises me anymore.  I just learned of a highly respected man from this area who committed suicide, a doctor who was caught harboring child pornography, and a school administrator who was involved in drugs.  Add that to the list of problems and pain I see in my counseling office, and you'll quickly understand why my shock radar is completely dead.  Sexual abuse.  Drug addictions.  Theft.  Infidelity.  Compulsive Lying.  Self-mutilation. 

Nothing surprises me anymore.

Time and time again I've seen the evidence of our fallen human nature.  Men and women, seemingly put together on the outside- the house, the cars, the clothes- but behind their mask there hides the face of their own "fallenness". 

Sometimes I see things so extreme that I have a silly tendency to sit back and think, "How do people end up in such awful places?"  I get confused sometimes, as if I- by my own doing- have made the best choices in my life. 

But then Jesus gently reminds me of my own desperate need.  He reminds me that the only reason I am even surviving without the mask is because He has graciously taken it from me, and nailed it to the cross.  He reminds me that I, too, have the capacity for things far more horrid than this, and that I am only rescued by His grace. 

A grace that knows what I'm capable of, yet loves me still.

There, but for the grace of God, go I.   --  John Bradford








5 comments:

  1. I think I've read about 20 of your posts now after stumbling upon your blog an hour ago and I'm really glad I found you. your thoughts on depression, other people's crap, your own crap, grace, etc really hit the nail on the proverbial head. it's what I've been needing to hear.

    thanks for writing that article for Relevant, too :)

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  2. Karen,
    That's awesome to hear. I'm glad you can relate to this stuff! By the way, "My crap, your crap, other people's crap" sounds like a good title for a blog post doesn't it? Haha, thanks for the inspiration!

    On a serious note, I'm glad God was able to use these words to touch your heart in some way...His love is so deep, I hope you felt just a glimpse of it through the words He gives me.

    Thanks for reading, it's an honor to know you are!

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  3. Thanks for sharing this insight, I think too many of us see these people falling down publicly and think, like the Pharisees, oh I'm so glad I'm not like 'that'....when, really, we're no different...

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  4. Carrie,
    Thanks for your thoughts. How true...we really are like the Pharisees and we don't even see it sometimes. I'm glad you pointed that out. I know I'm glad my life isn't under a public microscope. Glad you took the time to share your thoughts and thanks for reading.

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  5. I try to read all the new posts :D I have you on my blog list, I'm not even sure where I found you to begin with! I just picked back up blogging after a very long hiatus!!

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