The words grow so familiar over time. Words like mercy, grace, peace, and joy. We hear the truths of God’s love, forgiveness, protection, and provision so often that they feel like ideas that will work out only in eternity, especially when they bump up against day-to-day realities that can be so harsh. We feel like we are forever kept waiting to see these things come true in our lives.
It’s as if we no longer hear the voice of God declaring His love for us simply because we have let the noise of life take over. We believe in grace, mercy, and love, but we have lost the wonder of what that means. We give it weight in theory, but not in practice.
We might think in terms of someday going to Heaven, escaping judgment and hell, and maybe seeing some vague, general blessings along the way. We hope for ease and comfort and wonder how we can guarantee those outcomes. We want an easy life here and then Heaven for eternity. We think that is our inheritance, and we would settle for that.
Our understanding of what we’ve been given in Christ is too small. We actually already have so much more than we realize simply because we belong to Him. His very life and Spirit moved in when we surrendered our lives to His rule, and we are never separated from Him. Never.
There is no joy, no sorrow, no circumstance we experience apart from Him. We are united with Him in it. We can try to react to it appropriately, or we can hand it over to Him and choose His life and reaction. It takes a moment of thought and a deliberate choice, but His life is always available to us.
We will never live this life as we should by our own merit or effort. Only by faith. Not our own weak and fickle faith, but by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and delivered Himself up for us. His faith in His own righteousness and provision is credited to us if we would stop striving to live by our own strength and faith.
We can take His yoke which is easy and light,
cast all our cares on Him,
be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer,
always giving thanks for everything,
abounding in faith, hope, and love.
May we not lose the wonder and awe of the amazing promises that fill the scriptures! They are not just lofty ideas. They are the solid, concrete foundation on which we can build our lives and futures. Let us live in joy and gratitude for all that He has given us.
John 14:16-26; Ephesians 3:16-21; Ephesians 4:20-24; Galatians 2:20;
Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 12:12; Ephesians 5:20
His Unfolding Grace 