Morning, Friends! Welcome to my Rose Hill table!

My last post encouraged us all to "Be brave; it pays."

Have you found that to be true? Life is hard at best, between a rock and a hard place at worst?

Friend, that darkness can press all it wants: What the pressures express, however, is the key---sweet or sour? If the Rock against which I am pressed is Jesus, my highest hopes, my perfectionist nature would cross-fingers for the sweetest expression for God's glory.

However, oft times what comes forth is a vinegary mixture of unground chips of my brokenness, of my failures, of my best intentions, of my brazen acts of rebellion.

Now comes the test: Will I be brave to trust that God is permitting the dark force to exert what it believes to be its best grinding tool of destruction--but that the Godly result is the pulverizing force of His power, mercy, grace, foreknowledge and unconditional Love which can melt a stone?

Let us be brave: Let us trust that God's unconditional love--on a daily basis--can melt our unground chips or boulder-sized problems/shortcomings/sinful rebellion/failures with His cleansing Blood--all without our crossed-fingers, our "cross-my-heart-I hope-to-die" feeble bleatings that only substitute baking soda for sugar.