If by the trespass of the one man death reigned…how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:17

     If you look at this verse, it tells us that if we have God’s grace and His righteousness (which we receive by faith in the Son of God), then we should “reign in life.” That is pretty far from how my life feels most of the time. I feel run over by life, not exactly reigning in life. Hannah Whithall Smith writes in her book God of All Comfort:

     “We have been reigned over by thousands of things, by the fear of man, by fear of outcomes, by fear of looking bad or failing, by situations out of our control. We have been slaves where we ought to have been kings. We have found our reigning to be “much less” rather than “much more.” Why is this? Simply because we have not “received” enough of the abundance of grace that is ours in Christ. We have let unbelief cheat us out of our rightful possession. In our heart of hearts we have not really believed that His grace is sufficient for reigning.”

     God is able to take whatever it is we are struggling with and turn it for good in our lives. Not only that, in the moment, when we feel overwhelmed by fear and negative emotions, He can give us grace to rise above the circumstances and stand in faith that God is working on our behalf. The lack is not on His part, but on ours. We don’t ask. We come up with every solution or answer that we can think of; we run to a friend to soothe or guide us. When all else fails, we turn to God.

     This verse doesn’t say that you will reign in life based on how well you can navigate the turbulent waters of life. It says “How much more will you reign.” How much more!!  How? It’s available in big doses through “receiving God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness” that is ours in Christ Jesus.

     In weakness, in struggles, in insults, in persecutions, in difficulties, God’s power is available, because His grace is sufficient. We can reign in life! I don’t want to be run over. I want, in my weakness, for God’s power to rest on me. Don’t you?

*Will you choose to run to God to give you grace today?

Almighty God, giver of grace, will You show me how to stand in the grace that You continually provide? I want to have a conquering faith that enables me to stand strong and hold steady and not let the drama or anxiety get me down. I want “much more” than I have walked in up till now. I want to reign! Because of Jesus I pray, Amen.


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