I just finished a major final in psychopharmacology- it took hours and lots of research. My teacher went over the final after we had all turned it in and I discovered that I answered several of the questions wrong. You see psychopharmacology is all about medications, side effects, the client and the medications impact on the clients age, metabolism, disorder etc.. anyway It is a real learning experience and process. I don't think that I killed my simulated client but I may have suggested a prescription that is not FDA approved for his age! I began to have that feeling of dread and what my grade was going to look like but then I began to think about the character of my teacher and what kind of person he is. He would often tell us stories about his life sometimes to make a point and sometimes just to share. Anyway he had shared that his wife had a really rough childhood that included being molested by her brother. She eventually went to therapy for her past but this brought up lots of stuff in her that caused her to think and become like an adolescent. She bought a sports car, would stay out all night, she acted like a teenager. She was trying to work it all out. He was worried if they would have a marriage when it was all over. When it was all over she said that she was going to be the best wife ever. He said he never asked her where she was all those long nights he spent alone. He said he didn't want to know but he wanted to love his wife and keep their marriage. And he did, he continued to love her until the day she died. I thought this was such a wonderful picture of God and the grace that he bestows on us, and the kindness that he imparts to us. The difference is that God knows all about our sin- its ugliness but he is able to "forget" it. God does this, he "remembers our sin no more." There was no way I could get all the right answers on that final. I am just a student that is learning new material and how it all works together. Life is like this. We don't know what is going to happen, how we are going to deal with it, and sometimes we will never make sense of it. We fail at things, we sin, we make mistakes because we are learning, we are students at life, we are human and we are not yet perfected in this life. We can mean our best, try our hardest and still fail! Yet God is active in all this- he protects us, he keeps us from sin, he keeps us. When Peter denied Jesus three times- he must have surely believed that he was done, in fact it appeared that he went back to fishing. But then Jesus initiated the reconciliation process. He came to Peter and spoke to him. He knew Peter would fail. Would Peter be able to accept his failure and continue on? Yes he did and so did Jesus. He can handle our failure when other people in our life can't. Jesus doesn't give up on us-ever. Sometimes we fail and we don't continue on, instead we give up.
We know the character of our Savior when we remember the cross. And he reminds us in gentle ways of His love. God forgave our past, present, and future- already! In the Old Testament the Israelites continued to sin over and over, again and again and it seemed that there was a cumulative effect with God and his people. He
remembered their unfaithfulness, their idolatry, their horrible deeds, and justice was on the way. Eventually Israel was captured and the people became slaves in a land not their own. This was one of many swift acts of justice- one final act concluding the Old Testament. But then something happened, Jesus came and paid the price for our sins.
Hebrews 10:17 “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
The meaning of grace;
a.Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people.
b.The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God.
c.An excellence or power granted by God.
God has forgiven you- we can walk in this freedom under his umbrella of kindness and grace. Rejoice!
Blessings!
Comments
Post a Comment