Nothing but the Blood - AnnaKate Burleson
There was a lot of reading this week, but one sentence, in particular, is what really stood out to me. It's the opening line of Book X, Chapter 29.
"And all my hope is nowhere except in your great mercy."
What Augustine has found in his great struggle with sin and redemption is nothing satisfies but the grace of God. He's put his trust in just about everything he could - his job, himself, his relationships with other people...the list goes on. But ultimately each of those things left him empty and disappointed. It is only in the arms of Jesus that he has found true respite.
I hope this serves as a powerful reminder to all of us. We cannot save ourselves, only Jesus can. Augustine found himself in some pretty low places, but in the end, he was healed through Jesus. Even in the pits of his despair from the loss of a close friend, his hope could be found in the Lord.
My prayer is that all of you have found this to be true in your own lives. And if you haven't yet, I pray that you will, because Augustine is right. God's great mercy is truly the only place we can put our trust, for He is the only unchanging thing.
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9
I commented on Gray and Eliza's posts.
"And all my hope is nowhere except in your great mercy."
What Augustine has found in his great struggle with sin and redemption is nothing satisfies but the grace of God. He's put his trust in just about everything he could - his job, himself, his relationships with other people...the list goes on. But ultimately each of those things left him empty and disappointed. It is only in the arms of Jesus that he has found true respite.
I hope this serves as a powerful reminder to all of us. We cannot save ourselves, only Jesus can. Augustine found himself in some pretty low places, but in the end, he was healed through Jesus. Even in the pits of his despair from the loss of a close friend, his hope could be found in the Lord.
My prayer is that all of you have found this to be true in your own lives. And if you haven't yet, I pray that you will, because Augustine is right. God's great mercy is truly the only place we can put our trust, for He is the only unchanging thing.
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9
I commented on Gray and Eliza's posts.
Wow, this was a great reminder. At the end of our lives, everything will fail, except Jesus. All our hope must be in Him because He is the only thing that will last. I love how we are able to see the full circle of how low things got for Augustine and how he struggled and but how he found his security and his hope in Jesus. Serves as a great example for us even this many years later. Great job Annakate!
ReplyDelete-Anna Grace Gay
I loved your post! It brought up a very simple message that can not be said enough -- thought we may try and try we can't succeed on our own. Only through Jesus can we ever truly find pure, unconditional love. Through loss and pain, He is always there and willing to open His arms again to us even if we turn away. I really loved this post.
ReplyDeleteI feel like what you said about Augustine putting his trust in everything but God is so relatable for everyone at some point in their lives. And it is so true that it never can fulfill whatever it is we are searching for it to fill. This post is a great reminder to focus on what we truly put our trust in, and i love it!
ReplyDelete