Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 119 verse 67:
"Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word."
Pain and suffering can be our greatest teachers in life. Hard as they are, they are often the only things that have the power to save us from ourselves. It is here that we find "a severe mercy".
Without any pain we pretty well feel free to go and do as we please. But affliction, whether of the body or of the spirit, drives us to a point of humility -- a place of prayer. There is a gift to be found in being broken.
We often hear the term "fall from grace". But there is no falling from grace. As Paul wrote, "For when sin abounds grace abounds". Truly what there is always is the fall to grace.
Julian of Norwich taught, "First there is the fall, then the redemption, and both the grace of God."
The fall is painful and harsh and does not leave us unscarred. We'll always walk with a limp. It shall be our reminder. And, it shall get us home.
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