discovering more about grace

when I say “discovering” i mean it in a loose sense, kinda like how we say columbus “discovered” america. well, he followed vespuci, who only found what someone else had “discovered” way ahead of him from the other side. nonetheless, this morning was a discovery for me. maybe a better term would be “illuminating” or “getting some revelation about” grace. whatever. i think you get the point.

what hit me today during day 3 of the 21 days of discovery early morning prayer time at hpc was this: God’s grace is enough. it is sufficient for me, for you, for anyone who ever was or is or will be. i’ve heard the verse, “My grace is sufficient for you…” a thousand times but this morning it clicked with me. at least this part of it was a fresh hit for me. (i’m sure there’s still way more about the sufficiency of His grace i don’t understand.)

anyway – it was during a song by hillsong i was listening to on my son’s ipod (thanks for the loaner, jd). it just said one line in there about “Your grace is all i need.” over and over that line rang in my mind. it is all. that's enough. His grace is enough. and then the thought that follows in paul’s verse that says God’s grace is made perfect in my weakness.

wow. that's a toughie. that's saying that without my weakness (my sin) His grace would be incomplete? in a way, i guess so. without my weakness there would be no need for His grace. so, should I keep trying to be weak – keep messing up to help God out? paul asked the same thing (rhetorically). “should we continue to sin so that grace may abound?” here’s my version of his answer to the question. hardly – we’ve sinned enough and we’re plenty weak already – no need to increase it. one “little” sin was enough to separate me from God. it was enough to make me need Jesus to die on the cross for me.

but that was it. that was enough to cover it all. sometimes I don’t like to have to admit i need his grace. don’t ask me why – it’s a pretty stupid way to act, like we don’t need God’s help. we all need grace. i don’t want to need it. I’d rather be perfect. I'd rather never need to be forgiven or need help. but guess what – i do need it, and I’ll probably continue to need it, so I’m tremendously grateful it is there.

thanks, God.