February 10: When the Word Embraces Our Wounds: Encountering Grace in Despair
John 1:14 (ESV)
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Read The Full Devotional Below.
There I was, lying on the floor in a puzzle of my own self-inflicted despair. The weight of past wrongs, selfish living, and a heavy case of Main Character Syndrome had piled so high it felt like I couldn’t get a single breath into my lungs. I had once again finished off a bottle of scotch while drinking alone in a home so silent it was like a soft buzzing in my ear.
As I lay there, drowning in regret and the numbness that had become my companion, I muttered a desperate prayer. I didn’t even know what I was asking for—just something, anything to break through the emptiness. I had prayed before, made promises before, vowed to never drink again if I could just get through another bout of melancholy and drunken spiraling. But this time was different.
It was then that I felt it.
A warmth—an embrace that wasn’t physical yet wrapped around me with undeniable presence. It didn’t last long, but it didn’t need to. In that moment, I knew. I knew God was there. Not distant, not watching from afar with a list of my failures, but present, near, with me in my brokenness.
This is what John meant when he wrote:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, ESV)
Jesus—the Word—became flesh. He didn’t just send messages from heaven, didn’t stand at a distance shouting commands. He came down. He dwelt among us. And that means He steps into our mess, into our pain, into those moments where we feel like nothing more than a wasted life sprawled out on the floor.
Grace in Our Brokenness
That night, I encountered the very thing Jesus came to offer: grace and truth.
Grace that didn’t condemn me, though I deserved it.
Truth that didn’t sugarcoat my situation but shined a light on the way forward.
Jesus doesn’t just meet us with grace, patting us on the back while we stay in our sin. And He doesn’t just hit us with truth, leaving us crushed under the weight of our mistakes. He brings both. He is both. And that’s what makes the gospel good news.
In that moment, He didn’t remove my struggles, didn’t instantly fix my circumstances. But He let me know He was there. And that changed everything.
The Glory That Changes Everything
John tells us that when Jesus became flesh, we saw His glory.
Glory isn’t just about light and majesty—it’s about presence. When Jesus dwells with us, we see His glory. We recognize His love in our lowest moments. We realize His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
That embrace I felt on the floor wasn’t a theological concept—it was glory revealed in my deepest need. It was the reality that God doesn’t just save from a distance; He steps into the very places we feel unworthy of His presence.
And that is why the gospel is everything.
Living in the Reality of His Nearness
Jesus’ presence isn’t a one-time experience; it’s an ongoing reality. The problem is, we often forget. We let shame, fear, or the distractions of life keep us from remembering that the same God who met us on the floor is the God who walks with us every day.
How Do We Live in the Reality of John 1:14?
Acknowledge Your Need – Jesus came because we needed Him. Stop pretending you have it all together. Invite Him into your broken places.
Spend Time in His Presence – Through prayer, worship, and Scripture, remind yourself daily that He is near.
Embrace Both Grace and Truth – Don’t settle for half the gospel. Let His grace free you from shame, and let His truth guide you into transformation.
Look for His Glory – He is at work in your life, even in the mundane. Ask Him to open your eyes to see where He is moving.
Surrender Your Control – Stop trying to fix everything on your own. Let God’s presence guide your steps instead of relying on your own strength.
Seek Community – Surround yourself with people who will remind you of the truth when you forget it.
Live in Gratitude – Recognize that every moment of grace is a gift and respond with a heart of thankfulness.
That night, lying on the floor, I wasn’t a man full of faith. I wasn’t strong. I wasn’t even coherent. But God showed up anyway.
And He will show up for you too.
Because that’s who He is. That’s why He came. The Word became flesh so that no matter where we find ourselves—whether in a church pew or in a drunken heap on the floor—He could meet us there.
And when we let Him in, when we open our eyes to see His glory, we are never the same.
A Prayer for Today
Father, thank You for stepping into our mess, for not leaving us to figure things out on our own. Thank You that Jesus became flesh, that He dwelt among us, that He meets us in our brokenness with grace and truth. Help us to live in the reality of Your presence every day. Open our eyes to Your glory, and let it change us from the inside out. Amen.
An Invitation to go Deeper….
If you’ve ever felt like you’re too far gone, like your failures define you, like God has left you in the mess of your own making—know this: He is near.
Join the FaithLabz 30-Day Prayer Challenge and take intentional steps toward encountering the Word made flesh in your daily life. Because He is not distant. He is not done with you. And He is calling you into His presence today.
