“Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me that she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick', whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school.
'But how?' we ask.
Then the voice says, 'They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'
There they are. There *we* are - the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to faith.
My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
PSALM 85-87
ROMANS 8:19-39
JOURNAL
There are days when life simply gets the best of me. I am distracted, forgetful, or fall flat on my face. In those moments, I can understand why some people feel like giving up entirely. The grind feels endless, and hope can seem like a distant memory. Hiding away in some dark corner or running off to start over somewhere new can feel like the only relief.
But then I return to the truth of Scripture, and I am reminded that this is not abnormal. This is part of life. It is the common human condition, filled with trials and failures that reveal my desperate need for grace. It is in this space that faith becomes my anchor, holding me steady in storms I would otherwise be swept away by. As Psalm 86:11-13 says, “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.”
The storms, struggles, and heartaches I face are not detours from God’s plan. They are a necessary part of the journey where His love is proved true. Paul’s words in Romans 8 remind me, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That promise means that even in my lowest moments, even when I have blown it, God is still there, still faithful, and still ready to embrace me.
Brennan Manning once painted a picture of heaven filled with the bedraggled and burnt out. The prostitute who wept for her child, the man who compromised his integrity under crushing debt, the abused teen whispering God’s name before sleep. Their common hope is this: “They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9,14). If grace can welcome them, it can welcome me.
This is the gospel. It is not that I am perfect or always faithful, but that God is, and that His love never lets go. Even when I stumble, He works through the heartache to bring about beauty and purpose. As Psalm 28:7 declares, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”
And so today, even in the middle of uncertainty, I can rest in this truth. My strength is not in my performance, but in the God who holds me fast. That is enough.
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