Absolute Clarity and Absolute Grace
Sometimes God is distant, unclear, hazy, far away.
And then like a friend of mine just said, the sky clears and sunshine beams down on you.
GRACE: I FINALLY GET IT
I’ve been reading “What’s So Amazing About Grace” by Philip Yancey and it’s AWESOME. Why didn’t I read this sooner? From the moment I saw it in my not-so-grand Waldenbooks, I knew I needed to get it – it’s been on my wish list at Amazon for a year or more. I’ve learned MORE about forgiveness in just one chapter than a whole lifetime of walking with God.
So I realize it’s after 3PM and I haven’t read my bible yet, although I have read some Yancey, and I’m ALSO reading studies on the Lord’s prayer by Max Lucado. I’m in one of the later chapters, but the selection I was up to was 2 Cor. 12:7-10.
GOD’S GRACE TRUMPS OUR JUSTICE
Without doubt one of my favorite biblical verses is 2 Cor. 12:9. (Paul is at his best when he’s so human about how he’s failing.) Paul is asking God to remove a thorn, a tormentor and God’s reply?
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
At the same time, “Follow You Jesus” was playing on my Sirius Spirit station. I love this song, because no matter what conflicts I have, I can DEFINITELY follow his example – whatever his nature, which is surely pure and God-sent. And even if the exact words or meanings got lost in the translations of 2000 years, the faithfully applied principles of Jesus’ teachings still WORK.
And what is odd is that while I have a hard time worshipping Jesus as THE God (I think there is more to it, or something we humans are missing), I asked God if I should follow.
THIS AFTERNOON.
MOMENTS BEFORE READING THIS SCRIPTURE AND HEARING THIS SONG WHILE READING A BOOK ON GRACE.
GRACEFULLY PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
You may wonder how these things are all related. Ah, but they are, becaue to follow Jesus to accept the Divine indulgence of grace in the form of forgiveness. Christ’s sacrifice negates our culpability. Do we need to improve? Yes. Do we need to repetively repent? Absolutely. Make amends? Yup, even with grace we must pay our dues. Strive for perfection? Of course. Why else would it be true that the closer we get to God, the minor infractions suddenly matter, the omissions now matter too, and the mistakes suddenly ARE all our fault, even the accidents?
FORGIVING SUCKS
Why do we need to do this, to still forgive, to still make amends? Because on this Christian path, we are closer to grace ourselves. We become more like our Creator as we follow this path closely, and we need to be more like Him to rejoin Him.
And forgiving sucks. Last year, the Lord required me to forgive my sister. No one had ever hurt me as much, had ever misunderstood the situation as much, had ever been so blind to me – in my opinion, that is. And yet I had to forgive her to get over my pain.
Don’t let the Dr. Phil’s of the world let you think this is easy: Forgive and get on with your life. It ISNT’ easy, but it IS necessary for spiritual AND emotional well-being.
But it sucks. It’s painful. It’s frustrating. It feels like injustice. It feels like surrender.
Ah, but isn’t that what God always requires? Absolute surrender to His will.
And so while doling out grace is painful, it’s completely required. We cannot live otherwise – and wouldn’t want to.