Guest blog: Kristin Messegee

I was not raised in the church. My conversion was later in life and the hows and whys of that still don't fully make sense to me. Even though I've experienced true grace and forgiveness, I'm still a doubter, questioner and stubborn follower. One of my biggest issues as a new convert was the idea that "apart from God we can do nothing", or something like that. You hear things like that in Christian circles. It drove me NUTS. We are created in His image, right? People, even non-Christians, GASP, do great things for other people every day, so what was this NONSENSE?! I found it very offensive. Over time, however, I came to understand statements like that is in two ways:

1) Compared to what God can do, even our best is pretty insignificant. Compared to what He's capable of, we are capable of nothing. Even if we give every single day our very best, it's not much compared to creating the heavens and earth and little things like that. 

2) When we PARTNER with God or bring Him into our lives, that is where the real magic can happen. Things we cannot achieve or bring about alone, we can when He is involved. Not that we get to control that or know what it's going to look like.  

Caz's sermon last Sunday reminded me of that gap between what I can do and what He can do. It reminded me of the power of grace and forgiveness and whereas I struggle with those things, it's given freely to me...no matter what I do. The way I love is human. The way he loves is divine. If I'm honest, I can't truly take that in, but because I choose to walk with Him I've seen it and felt it in my own life. I'm grateful for glimpses and reminders that His love is perfect and beyond my comprehension. As I grow, I'm learning to rest in that...at least occasionally. 

Kristin