“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” Romans 4:7-8
Blessed is the one who is forgiven. Blessed is the one in whom God finds no fault. These verses are a fountain of life for the individual who is feeling overwhelmed and full of faults. Because of Jesus’ selfless sacrifice, we are clothed in His righteousness. Because of this right standing with God, all other things will be taken care of.
Sometimes we tend to feel like Bilbo Baggins, from Lord of the Rings, when he said, “ I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” Things pile up. People need things from us. Expectations loom. And, all at once we feel like we are going from place to place unprepared and eking by. This isn’t a pleasant place to be. We are left feeling like we are straining, stretching, and failing to succeed.
It’s times like this that we need to whittle things down to the barest truth. The truth that will sustain us and give us life is simply God’s great love. God’s redemptive love is enough to wash away our self-depreciating thoughts and bring us back to His heart. No one can perfect himself. No one can ascend so much he is never plagued by feelings of inadequacy. No one can do it all. Apart from God we can do no good thing.
God is the master of mercy, the provider of peace, the lavisher of love, and the giver of grace. Sometimes we have to take ourselves back to square one and consider what great love God has bestowed upon us. By recalling the fact that God called us first, sent His sacrifice first, and forgave us first, we alleviate some pressure from ourselves and rest in His goodness.
Because we are human we find faults within ourselves and those around us. God sees us covered in His precious and faultless Son’s righteous standing. We see ourselves as struggling, and God sees us as sterling. We see ourselves as broken, while He sees us as redeemed.
God has a purpose for each of us. God isn’t blind to our mess ups, but He sees us through eyes of mercy. His love for us is so great that while we were still His enemies in sin, He sent His beloved Son for our sacrifice.
If we are feeling stretched, meager, or miserable, we should remember that God sees all and loves us dearly. Loves us completely. Loves us beyond our limitations. Loves us at the price of His son’s life blood.
We feel weary because we strive in our own strength and forget to rely on Him. He says, I will give you rest! That rest doesn’t have to be physical; that rest can be emotional and spiritual as well. On a day where we might be tempted to look at our failures, we must look instead at Jesus’ victory. Jesus our redeemer, our savior, our advocate, our Jesus came for us! Our Jesus gave us all He had to provide peace with God and peace in our hearts.
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8
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Judith Cooley teaches Language Arts and Drama. Follow her Facebook page @pondervotional for more encouragement.
