Dispensers of Grace

Maybe I'm getting older, wiser, or more mature (I can at least vouch at the older part) but lately when negative news comes my way, I no longer feel like wagging my finger in disgust and writing that person or situation off. It wasn't that long ago I was a champion of sending political forwards off in rapid fire that would insult a candidate I wasn't voting for.

The last few weeks I felt God preparing me for something I'm not even quite sure of. I know the following words and sermons have hammered me though: perseverence. covering. dispenser of grace.

I watched the Saddleback Forum with both presidential candidates and left impressed. Both men are intelligent and passionate. They are in the position they are because they care. You can bet they will carry perseverence through these next couple months. Passion too. I found Rick Warren's questions well done and extremely telling.

Senator McCain sounded authentic when he admitted his biggest moral failure was his first marriage. Senator Obama was forthright on his stand on abortion. He could've spun it til the cows came home, but he even acknowledged not everyone is going to agree with where he stands. He's right, I am not on the same page on that issue, and to me, life is the top of the pyramid. If you are passionate for life, my thinking is you will have wisdom to take care of the economy and foreign relations. That's my opinion.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the interview and I felt the lines were clearly drawn on the issues and where voters will stand. Any hesitation I have is gone, I know where my vote is going come November. But the best thing of all is I truly want both men to prosper these next months and beyond. I wish neither humiliation, failure, or anything that is easy to get tripped up in during a presidential campaign. The Lord is molding me into what I see as a "dispenser of grace."

It's not just me, though. Over the weekend I read that Todd Bentley stepped down from the Lakeland outpouring and other ministry efforts. It appears that his marriage is in jeopardy from his own choices. I read interesting things from condemnation, sorrow, and everything in between.

For me, I hate when marriages are on shaky ground. I absolutely believe in having a covering and accountability for any ministry. I'm certainly not on the front row to anything in the limelight but I have a team that covers me and they have before I wrote one word for Him. Even with that covering I can't explain in words how hard I have felt attacked to quit, turn away or walk in the ways I used to travel. The very last thing I want to do is sneer at anyone going through such a public heartbreak.

Like Todd Bentley or not, people were radically healed. The glory from those healings go to Jesus Christ. And in my mind, the devil didn't want any part of that, so I'm grateful for all the people involved to date in the outpouring. I pray the healings continue---worldwide, right down to the Bentley family.

Wagging finger or dispenser of grace. Which would you like to be

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she also blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09. One of the books will be a quote in Kathy Vick's Simon and Schuster/Howard's gift book, "Run Like a Girl."

You can also find Julie the third Thursday of each month over at Take Root and Write with her column, Finding Freedom through Surrender. She facilates a group by the same name at the sister social networking site, Christian Women Take Root.

To get to know her better, read her interview by Lynda Schab at:http://www.faithreaders.com/featured-author-details.php?id=33%20

To contact Julie, please use the e mail provided in our profile.