And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

Abram (soon to be Abraham) is promised a land and a people in his name. Righteousness was reckoned (established) in him because of his belief in the promises. In other words, right living began in Abram with a commitment to allow God’s work to take place in his life. Not to make it happen personally, but to allow God to make it happen. This is a clear picture of what God’s grace does in our life. Grace is not intended to simply make us feel better but to make us better in the depths of our life.

In Lent we may be tempted to work hard at our faith. Putting many things on our plate and holding on for a few weeks praying it makes a difference. If you know me you know that I am all for participating in means of grace. I’m not saying to stop working at it. But I am also reminded in the passage that the work we do is always temporal while the work God does is eternal. Finding that happy medium spot where we depend on God’s power and yet keep moving our feet is the place of maturity.

Last night was the first night I got behind on the blog. To be honest, it hadn’t even been a week and I was already behind! I worked and worked on a blogpost that just wasn’t coming together. But instead of giving up, I am trusting that what I needed to hear and maybe you too is that God is enough. What we have is always usable if God is involved. So I am depending on God and keeping my feet moving tonight.