Chaque jour, à chaque heure

Ô Dieu! tu es mon Dieu; je te cherche au point du jour; mon âme a soif de toi, ma chair languit après toi, dans une terre aride et altérée, sans eau. Psaume 63. 1

Le Seigneur s'est tenu près de moi et m'a fortifié. 2 Timothée 4. 17
 

Auguste Glardon, missionnaire aux Indes il y a plus d'un siècle, dut souffrir les pires épreuves: terribles fièvres dues aux maladies tropicales, angoisses à cause de la présence de fauves au cours de ses tournées d'évangélisation… et, plus tard, le chagrin dû à la mort de son petit garçon de 5 ans. Dans un cantique intitulé “J'ai soif de ta présence”, il crie à Dieu son impuissance et exprime sa douleur, mais aussi sa foi en ce Dieu proche de notre condition humaine:

J'ai soif de ta présence,
Divin chef de ma foi.
Dans ma faiblesse immense
Que ferais-je sans toi?

Chaque jour, à chaque heure,
Oh! j'ai besoin de toi,
Viens, Jésus, et demeure
Toujours plus près de moi.

Pendant les jours d'orage,
D'obscurité, d'effroi,
Quand faiblit mon courage,
Que ferais-je sans toi?

Ô Jésus, ta présence,
C'est la vie et la paix,
La paix dans la souffrance
Et la vie à jamais.

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My Real Face

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 1 Timothy 1:12

God accepts us as we are, and changes us as we serve Him in love.

For years, feelings of unworthiness and shame over my less-than-godly past had an adverse impact on every aspect of my life. What if others discovered the extent of my blemished reputation? Though God helped me muster up courage to invite a ministry leader to lunch, I strived to seem perfect. I scrubbed my house spotless, whipped up a three-course meal, and donned my best jeans and blouse.

I rushed to turn off the front-yard sprinklers. Twisting the leaking nozzle, I screamed when a gush of water drenched me. With towel-dried hair and smeared makeup, I changed into dry sweat pants and a T-shirt . . . just in time to hear the doorbell. Frustrated, I confessed my morning’s antics and motives. My new friend shared her own battles with fear and insecurity stemming from guilt over past failings. After we prayed, she welcomed me to her team of God’s imperfect servants.

The apostle Paul accepted his new life in Christ, refusing to deny his past or let it stop him from serving the Lord (1 Timothy 1:12­–14). Because Paul knew Jesus’s work on the cross saved and changed him—the worst of sinners—he praised God and encouraged others to honor and obey Him (vv. 15–17).

When we accept God’s grace and forgiveness, we’re freed from our past. Flawed but fiercely loved, we have no reason to be ashamed of our real faces as we serve others with our God-given gifts.

Lord, thanks for eliminating our shame and insecurities as You use us to serve You, no matter what our life looked like before You saved us.