THE POWER OF GRACE

Wish fulfillment is the primary fantasy of the human heart - clawing for Eden - but Eden is gone and though we want very much to believe we can fix our lives in a few simple steps, like making coffee or boiling an egg, we really can’t – we are broken well beyond human capability.  The essence of God’s message, the gospel of Jesus, isn’t a bunch of hoops to jump through, a divine checklist to be completed, a list of rules to be followed, or a series of ideas to agree with.  The essence of God’s message to mankind is an invitation to know God... to experience the living God in intimate relationship.

Life is complex.  Life is very complex, so to think it can be understood and fixed in a few simple steps is most absurd.  In reality there are a million steps and we don’t know what they are -- we don’t know where to start -- they are constantly changing -- they are different for each person, and we don’t know at any point in time if we are even willing.  But this is a most beautiful truth to cherish for we are truly helpless, totally dependent on our loving Father who keeps purposefully shaking things up... changing our path... reordering our life circumstances. Daddy both wills and allows, placing “speed-bumps” on the threshing floor of our life to chasten us into holiness, to mold and shape us into Christlikeness, to test, stretch and approve our faith.  The Apostle Paul warned us to Suck It Up: “Do not lose heart” at these “light afflictions”, for our perseverance produces God’s character and strengthens our blessed hope in His eternal promises, as He lavishly pours His love into our hearts. You see, Paul knew Jesus has prepared a place for us that is infinitely beyond our grandest imagination. So, we simply cannot rely on easy answers, power points, magic mantras, spiritual superstars, fleeces or man-made formulas... clawing for our best life now, when God has decreed our best life will be with Him in His Kingdom.  We can only rely on God’s existence, God’s truthfulness, God’s love for us, God’s mercy extended to us and God’s guiding hand in our life, and all of this is simply the power of His awesome Grace willing and doing His good pleasure in us... turning everything into His Good.  It should make us joyful to understand our life is completely out of our hands; we have been Graced by sovereignty... for Grace empowers what it commands. We can only muck it up if we fail to trust God.