Hard Grace

Everything is eucharisteo.

Because eucharisteo is how Jesus, at the Last Supper, showed us to transfigure all things — take the pain that is given, give thanks for it, and transform it into a joy that fulfills all emptiness. I have glimpsed it: This, the hard eucharisteo. The hard discipline to lean into the ugly and whisper thanks to transfigure it into beauty. The hard discipline to give thanks for all things at all times because He is all good. The hard discipline to number the griefs as grace because as the surgeon would cut open my son’s finger to heal him, so God chooses to cut into my ungrateful heart to make me whole.

All is grace only because all can transfigure.

I take to heart the words of Thomas Aquinas, who defined beauty as id quod visum placet — beauty as that which being seen, pleases. I wear the lens of the Word and all the world transfigures into the Beauty of Christ.

Everything could be eucharisteo.

Lord of Life, when I am between a rock and a hard place, cause me to know it full well: You make all grace because You transfigure all. Cause me today to believe, right in the midst of hard things, that You are patiently transfiguring all the notes of my life into the song of Your Son. Today, let me do hard things: live the hard discipline to give thanks in hard things. Today, I lean hard on You — who softens my heart.

Excerpted with permission from One Thousand Gifts Devotional by Ann Voskamp, copyright Zondervan.

* * *

Your Turn

We serve a good God who can take our pain and replace it with joy. He is able to soften our hearts in even in the midst of overwhelming and difficult situations. Join the conversation on our blog! We’d love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily