Today I am honored to introduce Kris Camealy as our guest blogger and author. When I stumbled upon her Lenten Devotional, I had to buy one immediately! And I have been soaking in God’s message through her story of surrender and her beautiful way of sharing His Grace in her book and on her blog ever since! I was so thrilled when she agreed to share with all of us on Unwrapping His Grace! I hope you are blessed and encouraged by her story today…
I rolled up my pant leg displaying the smallish scar on my knee cap I earned when I roller skated down a brick sidewalk in Ankara Turkey. My friend had been in front of me with a jump rope tied around her waist while I brought up the rear, full speed ahead down the bumpiest, gritty sidewalk I’d ever been on.
It’s no shock that once I was up to what felt like warp-factor 9, when my skate stuck in a rut, the joy ride ended with me bloody and wailing like the school girl that I was.
It was foolishness for sure, but now I had this scar to show off, my badge of bravery (or stupidity, whichever way you want to call it). Compared to my husbands deep knee scar from a colossal wipe-out during a cross-country run, mine looks like little more than a wrinkle or smear of ultra smooth skin. The point is, we all have our scars, and sometimes we like to brag about them. These make us small heroes of our own stories. These scars are proof that we lived through it.
Last year, when the Refiners fire raged all around me, as God flipped the scales off of my eyes day after day, I didn’t want to show my scars. I wanted to pull my pant leg down and cover it all up. The thought of revealing the broken places in my life made me sick with shame. My secret sins aren’t badges of honor–they aren’t suitable for baring.
Living for Christ requires submission to His lordship over our lives. To live according to his purposes, (not ours), requires a confession–true repentance, a surrender of pride that lets its guard down to admit the mistakes, the weakness, the temptations that overcame.
For me, surrender came through a wrestling. I admit, I didn’t come willingly. With my heels dug in against the Lord, I refused to bare it at first, refused to come clean. I should have known better.
The trouble is, without surrender we render ourselves useless for His purposes. To be a vessel in God’s hands, we must become what He’d have us become. If the vessel the potter is molding, hardens in the process, it must be broken and remade. It cannot be used for it’s intended purpose until the potter has formed it as it ought to be. He is the potter, and we the clay, we see this in Jeremiah 18:7
O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. NIV84
These very scars, these often, still-weeping wounds, are the very ones we ought to be willing to reveal. These are the ones that when we lift up the covering and let Him see, He works tenderly and relentlessly to heal us, to restore us, to fit us for His purposes. It is by our surrender that we are made fully useful for His glory. These scars don’t make us the heroes of our story, they point to the true hero, which is Christ. When we roll-up our sleeves and share how He saved us from our recklessness and sin, how He shut the addictions and the pride down, His name is glorified.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV84)
Give it to him, friends. Roll up your pant leg, hike up your sleeves–bare your heart, and let Him have it all. He longs to heal you–He has plans to use you.
Let go.
If you’re looking for a companion to walk through the refining process with you, for a limited time, I’m giving away a FREE PDF of my book, Holey, Wholly, Holy: A Lenten Journey of Refinement for my newsletter subscribers. The book is also available on Amazon (print or Kindle) and for the Nook.
As a sequin-wearing, homeschooling, mops-coordinating mother of four, Kris Camealy is passionate about Jesus and her family. Her heart beats to share the hard, but glorious truth about life in Christ with anyone who will listen. When she’s not writing, she gobbles up books like they’re going out of print and plays in the kitchen. She’s been known to take gratuitous pictures of her culinary creations, causing mouths to water all across Instagram. Once upon a time, she ran 10 miles for Compassion International, a ministry for which she serves as an advocate. You can read more of her heart-words in her new book, Holey, Wholly, Holy: A Lenten Journey of Refinement, and on her blog Always Alleluia. Find her on Facebook, twitter and Pinterest.
If you want to continue hearing from our gifted guest bloggers as well as Gina Marie and me, Mary Joy…
Take a moment to sign up for the free updates through your E-Reader or in your email. And be sure to join the Unwrapping His Grace Facebook Community where you will find daily updates, Scripture, encouragement and opportunities to share prayer requests or follow us on Twitter!
