Roses of Grace

I don't like waiting.  Can you relate? You probably can—we humans have an acute sense of what we want, and we don't like having to wait to get it.  As I write this, I'm a senior in high school. I'm at that weird transition stage where I don't really know what my future's going to look like, but there's nothing I can do about it right now—all I can do is wait for information from the colleges I applied to. I can't make my own decisions yet.  Isaiah 40:31 says that "those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength." I'm waiting on the Lord pretty literally when it comes to college—but I'm also waiting on the Lord for other things.  I'm waiting for him to act in specific ways in specific areas. For people I've been praying for to be saved. For mental struggles I've been praying to conquer. For life events that haven't happened yet, even though I wish they had. For strength in certain areas I'm lacking in.  But I...

One day in ancient Israel, two men went to the temple. These men were very different—one of them was a Pharisee, a renowned teacher of the law, and one of them was a tax collector, a job infamous for its corruption and uncleanness.  If you grew up in the church, you probably know this story. In case you don't know it, I'll quote the rest from Luke 18:11–14:  'The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”' What if, instead of a Pharisee, it was a clean-cut church kid who's been ...