But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10
“The peace of Jesus Christ be always with you.
You must know that before curing you of vanity God wills to make you feel all the ugliness of this accursed passion, and to convince you thoroughly of your powerlessness to cure it, so that all the glory of your cure should revert to Him alone. You have, then, in this matter, only two things to do.
Firstly, to examine peacefully this frightful interior ugliness. Secondly, to hope for and await in peace from God alone the moment fixed for your cure. You will never be at rest till you have learnt to distinguish what is from God from that which is your own; to separate what belongs to Him from what belongs to yourself.
You add, “How can you teach me this secret.”
You do not understand what you are saying. I can easily teach it to you in a moment, but you cannot learn to practice it until you have been made to feel, in peace, all your miseries. I say, in peace, to give room for the operations of grace.”
Jean-Pierre de Caussade in Abandonment to Divine Providence (Grand Rapids: CCEL, 1751) 206.
How powerful the idea – to need the cure of vanity and ugliness – and to admit that you and I are powerless to cure it. But we have hope, and that hope rests in God alone.
And how ironic to see where giving comes into view. We must “give room for the operations of grace.” Let’s take this counterintuitive and critical step as the new year begins.
The apostle Paul describe himself at working harder at this and yet experiencing transformed because of the grace of God at work in Him. May this same grace work in each of us as we “give room.”
Today I fly to Germany en route to India and Bangladesh where I will serve over the next 2 weeks. While I minister, my own examine work must continue.
I need God to help me distinguish what is from Him from that which is my own. I resolve to examine peacefully and hope for and wait for God to work in me (and you) one day at a time.