i'm nothing without You

Michael W. Smith's song, "Grace' from the album, 'A New Hallelujah' speaks volumes to me. I never understood what it meant to be lost and without hope. Not too long ago I seriously considered getting into trouble, just so I could have a before and after story like so many of us. You know when you know what the 'other side' is like, when God takes you out of there, you really don't want to go back. He who has been forgiven much loves much. But when, like me, you were brought up in a Christian home and have never known the other side of the great divide, sometimes it's easy to forget just how much you have need the Lord. Yeah, definitely I had issues, what most people would call 'small' issues. But I always knew I could figure it all out, and get myself out of any mess unscathed. And most of the time I actually did. Until I got myself into one big trap. Trouble found me, and it went downhill from there. When I went to Him, I was lost, lost and hopeless. And then came Michael W Smith's song, and for the first time I saw myself for what I really am, a wretched and evil piece of clay, who received God's grace somehow. And maybe I have not fully understood that, but I pray daily, that I might not fall into the trap of self righteousness, just because I was rescued from the before-after scenario. for me, that in itself is enough of a testimony, and Lord, Let that be enough. Amen.