August 2010

“…My grace is sufficient…”  2 Corinthians 12:9

I used to think that grace was like a giant vat in Heaven that God dipped from when grace was needed.  Whether it was to cover my frequent sin, give me strength through the day or conquer a besetting trial, the grace that God gave was supernatural but generic.  My faulty reasoning said that the same grace covered all circumstances all the time.

It was also “sufficient” which sounded to me like “just enough to get by.”   The word lent to its common nature a hint of frugality as if grace was given to just get us moving again so we could gut it out and finish the task.  Like a shady spot and a cup of water, grace was just enough to push me forward through the blasting heat of a spiritual desert.  Generic and just enough… somehow I don’t think that is what God has ever intended for grace.

Meditate with me for a moment on grace.
It is His grace.  Is there anything common about our Heavenly Father, anything ordinary about our elder Brother, anything unremarkable about the Holy Spirit?  Absolutely not.  The Father declared through Isaiah,

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

And what of the marvelous creativity of the Son’s miracles?  Mud opening blind eyes, waking the dead with a whisper or a shout, paying taxes through catching fish!  Or the Holy Spirit’s entrance as the “silent Partner” by wind and fire?  There is nothing that the Creator does that is less than unique and tailored.  He delights in expanding our finite thoughts of Him.  His grace is remarkable, unequaled, peculiar and defined by His nature.  Moses declared,

“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You,
glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Grace is peculiar to God.  He created it, perfected it, and uniquely fits it to our purposes day in and day out.  Since God is not common, nothing about God’s grace could be so either.

It is more than enough.  Though we may lack the means to give to those we love our Father has no lack in His trove of covenant promises.  He waits for His children to request so He might bless.  He stands ready to release to those who are desperate for Godly increase. The psalmist declared, “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” He owns all and delights to give all to all those who ask and keep on asking.

It is a gift whose worth is beyond any human accounting of worth.  This gift cost the only life that could release redemption to all of the sons and daughters of Adam.  It is  incalculable in its value, unable to be matched, and beyond our ability to reasonably assess and articulate.  Because the divine payment of propitiation for this grace was neither cheap nor free, this grace should never be wasted on carnal repentance and theatrical Christianity posing as the truth.  Costing God everything is not the point.  That it gained us everything begins to tell its wonderful value.

It is Grace… the very word is like a cool breeze that always offers relief.  It can never be earned because the full cost was paid.  There is no need to demand because of its overwhelming abundance.  It can never be lacked by those who will simply ask! The writer to the Jewish nation who had only known their God through the law, astounded his readers when he wrote,

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The path to grace was cleared of all obstacles.  The veil of legalities and laws was torn beyond repair and grace has flowed freely ever since.  Grace, my friend, is the divine seal of promise to all who believe.  It can not be defined by the trinkets and jewels of this world.  It cannot be identified by a secularized theology of “name it and claim it.”  Grace is the tie that binds my life to the God of all Creation.  It is the bridge that takes me from this world to eternity.  It is the life cord that yokes my heart to the Divine lover of my soul.  And it is there for the asking.
So ask, receive, and rejoice!

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”

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