There are moments in life when you realise you've spent years carrying burdens that were never yours to carry.
For me, Grace Place Church became more than a church. It became a place of refuge, my safe place, a place to sit with God and truly hear the word.
After my divorce, I lived in a constant state of fight or flight. Every day was about survival. My mind was always racing, planning, fixing, worrying, controlling outcomes, and trying to protect myself from what might happen next. I believed if I could just think hard enough, work hard enough, or prepare enough, I could somehow control the future.
What I didn't realise was how exhausting that way of living had become, until a beautiful friend told me about Grace Place, from there I met Pastor Paul and his beautiful wife Helen. There was a peace about them that I couldn't explain. Not the absence of challenges, but a genuine peace that came from trusting God completely.
Attending Grace Place every sunday, I began to understand what it truly means to rest in God's grace. I learned that faith isn't about striving harder. It's about trusting deeper.
I learned that God's promises are not dependent on my ability to control every circumstance. I learned to declare what is already mine through Christ and to trust that what God has ordained for my life cannot be taken from me.
By trusting in God, he will carry the weight of the world, all I needed to do was live my life and then for the first time in many years, I understood “peace in the waiting”. I didn't need to control the outcome, I just needed to keep the faith and trust the process.. and my life shifted from moving with fear and control to faith and surrender. I finally understood that fear disguised itself as responsibility. Control disguised itself as strength. But true peace arrived when I realised that faith is not passive. Faith is trusting that God is already working on what we cannot yet see.
Today, when challenges arise, I still have moments where I want to take control, fix the problem, or force an outcome. But Grace Place taught me to pause, return to God's promises, and remember that not everything depends on me. Sometimes the greatest act of faith is simply letting go. Trusting. Waiting. Believing.
Knowing that the same God who created the heavens and the earth is more than capable of carrying what we were never meant to carry alone.
That understanding has transformed not only my relationship with God, but the way I approach every aspect of my life.
And for that, I will be forever grateful.
Please contact Pastor Paul on 0400 776 052 or visit The Grace Place Church