Ramblings on Grace...


Grace is a topic difficult to grasp. In the heart we can reiterate the congruencies of it throughout Scripture, know what it means to be in it, know what it is to accept it, and know that we can never earn it. However, in practice it's a whole other thing.

In our hearts the true acceptance of His Grace can be difficult to accept. We know in our minds what it is, but in our hearts do we practice it truly? I just this morning worked on a study that showed me my heart is off-kilter in this. I'm still trying to earn that which is freely given; still trying to make it so I don't have to receive it again. That's completely against Scripture! Grace is an ongoing, over-arching thing that covers us completely from the moment we enter into it throughout the rest of eternity. It can't be earned, it can't be avoided, unless, of course, we flat out reject it. We are fallen beings and it is by Grace we have been restored. It is by Grace we can approach our God. It is by Grace we are forgiven.

So why is it so hard to line our hearts up with our head? Why is it so difficult to grasp that which is never to be re-paid, indeed, never to be attempted to be re-paid? Is it our society that tells us we must earn everything and not accept anything freely? Is it the practice of a child trying to forever please a parent while failing again and again and again?

I've seen some examples in our life where we had to learn the lesson of free acceptance. Once was with my husband's Grandpa giving to him over and over from an abundance we didn't know he had. Another is when friends insisted I eat free at a restaurant even though I shouldn't have been the one to receive the free meal.

It takes humility to accept Grace. It takes humbleness to know that we've fallen and will never measure up. It takes humility to quit trying and to just receive.

I pray for that humility now.