I sat with a friend the other evening and as we talked I sensed in his words the pain and disappointment that at times accompany relationships. There was a wound that had been delivered and it came in an unexpected way, from an unexpected place. As he shared his present story, it was obvious to me that he did not want the wound to get the best of him. In a sense he was attempting to rise above the pain and act in a way consistent with grace and love. But in his efforts to do so he was still faced with the questions regarding friends that at times seem to wound us more deeply than enemies. The temptation in those moments is to go on the defensive, put up walls, and protect oneself from the threat. But that is not necessarily what Jesus did. Faced with the rejection and wounding from those He came to love, Jesus continued to open Himself up, make Himself vulnerable and extend love. It is the example of one who truly has risen above the pain, even while acknowledging, embracing and fully experiencing the pain. I often can glibly hand out platitudes like, “All will be made right in the end.” But what I think is really needed is something to restore us, sustain us and empower us in the “now”. If I am honest, I need something that will help me live well today and not just something that will help me live well tomorrow. I believe there is a glorious tomorrow awaiting me in the future, but I’m not sure that it negates or overlooks the glorious today that God intends for me to experience now.

Paul says something in a letter to a group of people in the area of Galatia that I believe addresses my desire for help today. Throughout this letter Paul has been expressing the truth of the gospel of grace embodied in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was crucified for me to redeem me from the brokenness and death due to my sin and rebellion against God. I was, without even realizing it dying of a disease I had no power to heal. But Jesus provided in His own life-blood, shed on the cross, as the cure for my sin. His own life was the means of making me whole and restoring my relationship with the living God. Paul indicates that the way one can experience this generous gift of grace is by faith alone. It is not deserved, earned or achieved through my efforts, but is based solely on the actions and efforts of Jesus Christ. Faith is a verb that calls for reliance on another. It is humbling to imagine that I must trust in, rely upon, or place faith in someone other than myself. Faith can make me uncomfortable for that reason. Often to quell my discomfort I attempt to do things that will make me appear more deserving of the gift. But the reality is that the enormity of the gift makes anything I do seem like less than nothing. Everything pales in comparison to the great and generous grace of Jesus Christ’s gift of His own perfect life. So Paul makes it very clear that my salvation was accomplished through “faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me”. Through faith I identify with the faithfulness of the crucified Messiah and His death becomes my death to the bondage and curse of sin. It is purely by faith that the gift is received and experienced.

Here is a song that might encourage you as you continue by faith to live well in the “now”.