God gives us space and lots of grace – no doubt about that. We have a master’s degree in imperfection but that does not seem to deter His favor. He is willing to help us and His door is always open.

More than once have I stumbled; my foolish pride comes in disguise and wears different outfits all the time. Struggling with the limitations of my body, my spirit gets weary. It seems, the older I get, the more grace I need. Having said that, the older I get, the more grace I apply to the people around me.

God’s grace makes our imperfections beautiful. I am not sure how He does it. – I’ve done my fair share of dumb mistakes and repented over it; but God seems to have a knack to use the mistakes I’ve made and work out something good. Please do not get me wrong. I am not encouraging you to be careless; I am encouraging believers to trust in the Lord. He has our backs. He works with us and our imperfections. What a wonderful and merciful God we have!

We have the Lord’s promise that He is with us and will never leave us. He not only listens to our prayers, He favors them. Restoration is on His mind; that is why He came to earth, died on the cross and rose from the grave. Isaiah predicted (Isaiah 49:8):

“This is what the Lord says: In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances.”

Isaiah prophesied Israel’s return to the land of their forefathers. Beyond the restoration of Israel’s land – which is a miracle in its own right – the Lord is now our portion; He is the portion of God’s people all over the world. Jesus restores us to His Father and our Father; His God and our God. And we complete His efforts of restoration when we grab His hand, hold on to it and remove anything that distracts us or pulls us away from the Lord.

Holiness comes from the Lord – and from the humbling realization how much we need Him.