Can I tell you what God has done in my life?

Have you had this moment? I have...and it hurt really bad.

Disobedience to God by nature is sin. Defiance is blasphemous. I've made no secret about the fact during my time on Kingdom Bloggers that I'm unfortunately guilty of both in my past.

Only by the grace of an almighty God through an absolutely free  pardon of those past sins can I peacefully rest at nights. But, it is only through the realization that this fact has everything to do with God and nothing about what I've done can I even write about it.

Giving my testimony was very counter-intuitive for me right after I stopped running from my Father. Most of that stemmed from the massive burden of guilt I carried around with me all the time, and the epiphany that God was under no obligation to take me back into His fold. Only after hours upon hours of Bible study and re-examining the lessons I had been taught from God's word while growing up did I truly and fundamentally understand that God's grace had been extended to far worse transgressors than me...from a worldly point of view.

Sin is sin to God as I understand things. David listed a pretty heavy line-up in his post Monday that included murderers, thieves, adulterers, and blasphemers. All saved by God's grace and used for His purpose. How do we so often overlook the complete story of David...or Paul? Word didn't travel in the first century at the blinding speed it does today. Can you imagine one of the first churches Paul visits to counsel? Wouldn't there be a degree of uneasiness and distrust initially toward a man noted to persecute and kill Christians? Could changing just the first letter of his name have that profound of an effect?

No...but God sure did.

Talking about past sins is uncomfortable business for most folks. Me included. But, I think that stems, to a degree, because our flesh seeks after acceptance from our peers. Cliche as it may be, we are also creators of habit, and habits die hard. Hiding sin is a common habit we all share.

¹⁹ Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.  1 Chronicles 22:19a (NIV)

That's David instructing the leaders of Israel to prepare to help Solomon build the temple. The same David that had committed atrocious acts of selfishness. Acts that hurt a great number of people and even resulted in death. The same David that only with his faith in God had single handily defeated the undefeat-able and saved his people, yet somehow managed to forget that fact later in life. A man God never gave up on and not only placed on an earthly throne of rule... but set in place for him to became the direct ancestor of His greatest gift of all.

That's how big God's grace can be. All I need to do is follow the wisdom of David's advise in Chronicles and let God do the rest. Not so hard when you think about it. After all...I'm already His child.