{"id":1886,"date":"2021-06-22T15:21:10","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T05:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/?p=1886"},"modified":"2021-06-22T15:21:10","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T05:21:10","slug":"grace-weakness-and-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/grace-weakness-and-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"Grace, Weakness, and Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I am having difficulties with my new contact lenses prescription. In the past, my former optometrist knows exactly and it always fit well. Because of the move, I had to find new optometrist. I changed one last year and the recent one I chose because he is willing to try all things to get me the perfect fit. Only after some times we tried and couldn&#8217;t seem to find that perfect fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He left me with two choices: one which I could see clearly, but makes me feel giddy. Or one which blur my vision and I feel less giddy. It is a very difficult choice. I have to admit that it frustrates me not being able to see clearly when I know I could if I chose the other one. At the same time, it troubles me a lot by the sensation I felt that the power is too strong and threw me out of balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>So I asked God which one should I choose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I got almost an instant answer, &#8220;stay with the blurred vision&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From age of 7, I was diagnosed with a lazy eye. So this eye is never used. Whenever I see an optometrist, they always prescribe the lowest degree (which is minus 10 above) I can tolerate to balance the other eye. Only recently this optometrist showed me that if he increased the power, this eye could actually &#8220;see&#8221; more. I was quite happy to find a new &#8220;power&#8221; with my lazy eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the blurring or limiting of my eye would serve me well to remind me that I&#8217;m what I am by the Grace of God. All I have done, could do, and accomplishments, are all merely by the grace of God. That through a weak self like me, His power made perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This morning I read from Song of Solomon 1, and it says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse has-text-align-center\">\"Draw me after you;\u00a0let us run.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The king has brought me into his chambers.\" \n~ <em>Song of Solomon 1:4 (ESV)<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>As my body parts slowly regressing as I grow older, and bodily injuries reduces activities that I could take part \/ do, I begin to see God&#8217;s grace in a new light. The &#8220;restraining&#8221; is like a pull to Himself. And the comfort it brings to know that it&#8217;s not so much my striving to achieve but the striving to abide that brings God&#8217;s results and God&#8217;s glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more I pray over things, the more I see God works in ways beyond what I could do with my perfect body. And I am happy to see it&#8217;s not my works but His in me through my weaknesses and limitations. And to close the loop, by the grace of God,  I could be content with what I am not also. To Him be all the glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am having difficulties with my new contact lenses prescription. In the past, my former optometrist knows exactly and it always fit well. Because of the move, I had to find new optometrist. I changed one last year and the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/grace-weakness-and-glory\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,92,20,33,56],"tags":[384,137,178,179,181,224,383,382],"class_list":["post-1886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2-corinthians","category-calm","category-gods-love","category-joyful","category-restful","tag-condition","tag-contentment","tag-gods-glory","tag-gods-grace","tag-gods-love-2","tag-love","tag-physical","tag-weakness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1401,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/redemptive-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":1886,"position":0},"title":"Redemptive Grace","author":"clay","date":"April 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The question puzzles me, \"why did God punish Eve and all women with so much pain in child-bearing? And why did God punish Adam and all men with much pain in working to earn a living?\" Both are the life-line of mankind existence, and the closest which we instinctively will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;God's Love&quot;","block_context":{"text":"God's Love","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/gods-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1723,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/random-thoughts-unfinished-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":1886,"position":1},"title":"Random thoughts &#8211; unfinished work","author":"clay","date":"December 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Perhaps, one of the biggest lessons for me this year is on humility & meekness. I was asked what is my birthday wish? What do I want? I do have one wish which I always dream and I know it would take me eternity. That is to be like God.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assured&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assured","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/emotion\/assured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1315,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/a-morning-thought\/","url_meta":{"origin":1886,"position":2},"title":"A morning thought","author":"clay","date":"July 13, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"To the praise of His glorious grace To the praise of His glory and power To Him be all glory, honor, and power Forever and ever And ever amen. A lyric that came to my mind. Glorying God.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Songs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Songs","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/expression\/songs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1971,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/silent-retreat\/","url_meta":{"origin":1886,"position":3},"title":"Silent Retreat","author":"clay","date":"November 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"If but thine ear be open, and thy thoughts brought into subjection, and thine heart prepared in silence to wait upon God and to hear what He speaks, He will reveal to thee His secrets. Andrew Murray This Saturday I was invited to share about our calling & ministry for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2 Corinthians&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2 Corinthians","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/bible\/2-corinthians\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1785,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/manna-for-the-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":1886,"position":4},"title":"Manna for the day","author":"clay","date":"August 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As I read Luke's account on Luke 2:1-7 of the birth of Jesus, I am comforted and strengthened to know that from the macro scheme of the whole world, to the minute details of our personal life, God is involved and watching. And it came to pass in those days\u00a0that\u00a0a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comforted&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comforted","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/emotion\/comforted\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1761,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/following-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":1886,"position":5},"title":"Following God","author":"clay","date":"August 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I remain confident of this:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I will see the goodness of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in the land of the living.Wait\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0be strong\u00a0and take heart\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and wait for the\u00a0Lord.Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV) The last few days have been very hard. My eldest told me, this is the hardest anniversary for you. I smiled, she chose her words\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2 Corinthians&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2 Corinthians","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/bible\/2-corinthians\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1887,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886\/revisions\/1887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}