.: Grace :.

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 (NIV)

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

1 Corinthians 15 : 10 (KJV)

This verse struck a very deep meaning to me, when I was reading it just the other day. And I was greatly humbled by my interpretation of the meaning behind this.

People’s misconception about being Christianity is that, once you become a Christian, you have a rather smooth-sailing life. I do not agree.

We encounter the same problems a non-believer does. And sometimes, to an even greater extend. We suffer from diseases and illnesses. We get hurt or betrayed not only by others but also by our Christian brothers/sisters. We are not shield from financial crisis. We are not spared of famine or poverty. And we face the same worldly temptations. Worse of all, we face persecution (whether directly or indirectly) for standing firm on our faith

But sometimes we succumb to pressure, and we stray away from the righteous path that God wants us to follow. And sometimes, we realize that, seek for forgiveness from God, and work our way back to the right path. We work hard to come back to that path and work even harder to stay on it.

Take Danny, a Christian, for example.

“Hey! I think did pretty good with my life. I mean, yeah, I backslide and was ex-drug addict once. I went to rehab. It wasn’t easy for me. I struggled to come clean. I was kicked back to the streets. I had nothing left, but the clothes on my back. My family disowned me. I struggled depression. But hey, I got out of it. And look at me now, a successful businessman and also serving God in my church ministry.

I mean, I could have fallen back into the addiction again. There were many points in my life where I nearly did. And my life would have been wasted. But look at what I did? I overcome it all.

But boy did I work hard to be where I am today! ”

Which is a GREAT testimony!

But then God ask – you Danny? You did that all yourself? Yes indeed you had to work extra hard to get your life back to the right track. But it wasn’t all you. It was MY GRACE that was with you.

Think about it. There are times in life where we struggle. Whether its from a drug addiction or financial problems or conflict with others. But we manage to see through it, coz we have the GRACE OF GOD with us.

Isn’t it wonderful?

If God puts you to it, He will see you through it.