More on Grace

I went back and reread my entry on grace and I realized how much that song has really affected my life. The line that hits me every time is "as long as you're seeking my face, you'll walk in the power of my daily sufficient grace". What a wonderful promise to hold onto. Daily sufficient grace. We don't need to store up God's grace for a rainy day or for when we are feeling less than forgiven. Every day God's grace is sufficient and everyday it is renewed.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV), Paul writes "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." It is so hard to be thankful in weakness, in hardship, in times that really just seem to suck. But, if I keep that scripture to the forefront of my mind, I realize that it is in those moments of weakness that I truly learn to rely on God's grace and power. If I am always strong, why would I need God's grace? If I trust in his grace, then I can rest in his power.

Last night my friend Lynette and I were talking about trust and she gave me a wonderful compliment. I went home and thought about it for a while and realized that trusting in God has been something that I have innately come to do. There are times when I struggle, but God's faithfulness to me earns my trust in him (if I can put it that way). He never lets me down and therefore, I easily trust. Somehow I have managed to separate trusting in God from trusting in humanity. People will always let us down, but we cannot transfer that lack of trust to a loving God.

Now, it would seem that I have strayed from the idea of grace, but stay with me for a moment. If I don't trust God, how can I believe in his grace? They must go hand in hand. I must trust that God's grace will be sufficient for each day. I must trust that his grace will never run out. I must trust that his grace is all encompassing. Do you see what I mean? Grace and trust as intertwined.

I am so glad that his grace is there for me daily...when I forget that I'm not strong and mess up, when I make a decision without seeking his direction, when I go day-to-day without really stopping to thank him for all that he has given to me. He never removes his grace, he just gently reminds me that he's covering me with it and that I can rest in it.

Daily sufficient grace - a little bit of Heaven on earth.