What happens? When you don’t want to give grace? Let’s be honest, but I’m guessing we’ve all been there.  Right. There. 

I am. Right. There.  It’s Monday and it started with a bang.  Every flavor of traffic difficulty imaginable, I think just to make my drive suck.  Production meeting at work and it just seems like there is a collective funk in the air and bad mood, seeping like a water spill from place to place and person to person.  So much for today…

In our production meeting my phone was blown up by call after from my young man.  Of course he needs this and he needs that and he needs this.  And… how dare I be working and NOT available to take care of every little whim. Right. Now.  

So it’s gone from bad to worse and today I just don’t want to give grace anywhere…  It’s the kind of day where the entire planet is a part of some greater conspiratorial plan to see just where my break point is.

Borrowed from a blog I just read… and thank you Kristen, publisher of #chasingblueskies, because Lord knows that at least ten times today, at least ten…I was going to move right on past these suggestions.

1. Sit on the sarcasm. Snarkiness of any kind is just pride in a cute skirt. (Note to self.) If you’re like me, sitting on sarcasm sometimes means not saying anything at all. Biting my lip and even walking out of a room altogether.

2. Savor validation found in truth, not telling-off. Your true identity is seen by the God who sees everything. It is not our job to set everyone straight, but rather let him set each situation straight. No lasting worth ever came from getting the last word. (My parents would be thrilled to know I am finally understanding this!) While defensive positions and speaking up have their place, I can’t manage everyone’s opinion of me, especially at the cost of grace.

3. Stick to the blessing. Slow down. Let yourself embrace restraint because like we see in the example of Abraham in the Bible,  restraint comes with blessing. God met Abraham (Abram) right where he was and gave him a choice. Abram chose to obey God and when He did, he received the blessing. When we choose to obey God by showing grace rather than airing our grouses, we receive a blessing, too.

So this is hard… today, it feels near impossible.  So I think that for the rest of today, I will pray and meditate.  I’ll probably work on #1, a lot.  So like Abraham… perhaps today is a test.  I think it is.  If you’re in to such things… today I need prayers.  Prayers to find the elusive grace hiding from me today.