I Believe, Too

I spoke with a friend today whose husband is stationed overseas on military duty. The anguish in her voice was palpable as she shared with me the burden she carries here while her husband, her best friend fights for our freedom across the ocean. With all my heart I wanted to make all her heartache go away, to bring her husband home so she wouldn't have to see the pain in the eyes of their four children as they live day after long day with his absence. I wanted to fix it so she wouldn't have to face another sleepless night in their empty bed, praying that he would still be okay when she wakes up in the morning.

But all I could do was listen and cry with her, never once pretending to understand what she feels. And I prayed for His grace to surround her.

God's grace is a crazy thing. It becomes to each of us whatever it is we so desperately need and it surrounds us and carries us when we don't see how we can make it another step. We just have to fling ourselves out there in it, letting it carry us wherever He wills. Easy to say. Hard to do. I pray His grace today to military families and I thank Him for a selflessness that I do not understand but that brings Him such unspeakable delight. I pray His grace for those who fight and defend and for their families who wait and believe. I believe, too.

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More Thoughts on Grace

When we afford another person grace in the face of their obvious imperfections and wrong-doings, we are being merciful. We are extending them pardon and affirming them in our love for and acceptance of them even when they disappoint or hurt us. The dictionary defines grace as mercy; clemency; pardon.

But grace is not just about mercy. It is also about beauty. The word grace is further defined as beauty of form, manner, motion or action.

This kind of physical grace is most obvious in the dance. The movements of a trained ballet dancer appear fluid, effortless and astounding in their beauty. The passion and heart of the dancer are translated through his or her movements to those who are watching, and their hearts are pierced.

Spiritual grace, when lovingly extended to another, also appears fluid, effortless and astounding in its beauty. And the passion and heart of God is translated through such obedience to the lost world who is watching, and their hearts are pierced.

James 4:6 says that "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." The grace of God is poured out on those who chose to live a life of humility, and it is a choice. Further down in James, verse 10, it says, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." Humility is a choice. Every moment of every day. The correlation between humility and grace is unmistakable. It is impossible to extend grace to others if you are walking in pride. God is in opposition to those who live in pride and only pours out grace on the humble. If He is unable to pour out His grace in your life, then you won't have it to extend to others. At all. Ever.

When I find myself devoid of grace for another, I can only assume that pride is at work in my life, and God cannot cooperate with me in that state. He opposes me. And we see this reality spread like cancer in churches everywhere. But He is calling us, wooing us, to return to Him in humility and confess our sin of pride that we might be healed, cleansed and filled with His beautiful, tender grace. And as our lives reflect this intimate dance of beauty with the Father, the gaze of the world will be inextricably drawn to Him. Just as it should be.

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A Wake of Grace

Eph 4:29 "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Do the words that you often speak extend grace to those around you?

Do the people that live with you find themselves set free by the grace your words bring or are they constantly imprisoned by the chains of negativity and unmet expectations that flow freely from your mouth?

Are you even aware of the steady flow from your lips and what your words mean in the life of those around you?

These are questions I am asking myself these days.

I deeply desire my words to leave a wake of life, hope and grace that can bring beauty and freedom to the people that surround me.

Our words should lift people up on the wake they leave behind and move them to a higher place rather than causing them to capsize.

Have you checked the wake of your words lately?

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