Kathleen and I got into it last Sunday afternoon. We’d just gotten home from a great morning at Grace Evan when something happened and all of a sudden we were, shall we say, having a robust conversation. Stress and fatigue are like gasoline on my indwelling sin and the sparks flying from our friction really got my "old man" blazing (Romans 7, James 3). My accelerated heart rate helped me realize I needed to calm down, so I went to take a nap and listen to the convicting voice of God’s Spirit. God helped me repent and take responsibility for my role in our rumble. After my “time out” I sat on the couch, held out my left arm, and invited my bride to join me for a calmer conversation. She immediately complied, we exchanged perspectives, and peace was restored.
The Grace Evan staff recently read and discussed Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp. The subtitle is “People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change.” The book says that when God calls us to himself, he calls us to serve Him by serving others. “…God uses people, who are themselves in need of change, as instruments of the same kind of change in others.”
Yesterday, someone who is going through some tough times in their marriage asked me for advice. I was tempted to plead incompetence, but I remembered Paul Tripp’s book about "needy people helping needy people." I realized how little I know about helping someone in this specific situation. I felt inadequate because I’m no “expert” but what I’d read in the Tripp book encouraged me to point to the Redeemer. So that’s what I did. I tried to point my friend to Christ.
"'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9
