Three different incidences called for a response, be it internal or external, the response was between God, the individual and myself.
Do you think about Grace in response to situations? I don't always...The simplest way for me to define it is: not getting the punishment I deserve, or not giving the punishment I really want to give as an act of love.
I think that there are also people who live lives of grace. People, who by their very presence, call out the grace in you, and also extend that Grace to others.
When I was younger, I wanted to make sure everything was "Fair". I wanted people that were wrong to be punished, If someone hurt me or someone I loved, I wanted them to hurt too. I wanted pain for pain, joy for joy, because, after all, "it was only fair". It wasn't till I was older that I realized that punishment wasn't always mine to give, and that God didn't have to follow my analysis of a situation as He decided how to " handle" that person. And now that I am older, I am glad He didn't!
A dear friend, Franklin went home this week. He didn't return to his home in Ozark, He really went "home" ...he received his "ultimate healing", resting in Jesus arms. Franklin was in his twenties and was one person who truly lived a life of Grace. He loved without reserve, he gave of himself without even knowing he was doing it, and wasn't trapped by petty offenses. He gave grace and received it daily. Franklin's parents also walked in grace, trusting Jesus for each step, not railing at him for an injustice through his illness. Many people may have seen his Downs' Syndrome as a liability, but I, and many saw it as a gift to the rest of us....just as Franklin was. I will miss his kindness, humor, grace and love.
My mother turned 81 yesterday. Even at 81 she is still lovely....Many times over the nearly 51 years that we have been mother and daughter I was anything but graceful. Many times I wanted justice, not grace. Many times I wanted her to hurt because she hurt me. But somewhere along the line I learned something. Love and grace overcome much. She never knew I had those feelings, she probably just thought I was an angry, twitchy, unhappy girl. One day, after my boys were deeply entrenched in puberty, something changed in me. I realized that she did the best she could. I was only killing myself with all this anger and animosity. She was, after all, my mom, and at that moment, I knew that I loved her with all my heart. Not for what she had done or hadn't done, but because, I realized just how much I was loved. How much had been forgiven on my behalf. I had been a Christian all my life, but in my heart that day, the concept of Grace touched me in a profound way. When I looked at her from that point on, I didn't see the offenses, I felt love and forgiveness washing over us both. The word for that is Grace , God's grace, not mine.
Then, I realized that there are times in our lives that we crave grace from others. Not the punishment we probably deserve....when we have to rely on the grace we are given by God, not the grace we eagerly crave from others. My husband recently gave a sermon on the changes Easter brings to our lives. One of the things he talked about was living as a forgiven and new person. It's hard to do when you are weighed down and walking in pain over your hurts. Hurts you have caused or received.
My prayer is for Christ's grace to wash over myself and my loved ones daily. To receive grace when it is given, to give grace when it is not deserved, and to ultimately live a life of grace, as Christ did. How can we do any less?
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