Life moves on in regular rhythms. Don’t we all get used to its patterns? There is a certain security in “sameness.” So when something unexpected comes along that touches my heart, it sets me off-balance. Change can be good but also unsettling.
Recently I’ve been reading “Grace” by Max Lucado. I’m an avid reader but few books catch my attention enough for me to even encourage others to read them too. A rare book I will read over and over because it captures my heart. But a truly great book, like this one, changes the way I think.
Maybe it was the right book at the right time but a shift is happening in my mind. The Spirit is moving and causing the shift. Max’s book is only the conduit. It’s much like wires that conduct electricity to a house. The wires are strung and the power ready to surge but I must flip the switch. This thing called Grace is grabbing hold of me and shaking me up. Perhaps I’m finally “getting it.” I know the term. I grew up in the church but it’s easily misunderstood. Grace must be experienced to be real.
All of a sudden I realize that nothing else really matters but Grace. It is the end all of eternity. It’s sheer power to change everything is overwhelming and more than a bit scary. Grace as I have always heard it defined is God’s unmerited gift to mankind. It’s mercy when we were rebellious and didn’t deserve it. It is the love of the Father embracing the prodigal. But did I ever really grasp that I am that prodigal and the embrace is for me? In the back of my mind, I am always thinking that I’m pretty much in control. “God, let me do this myself. I’ll call you if I need you,” was my true attitude. But this thinking never fully accepts Grace because it doesn’t acknowledge that I truly need it.
When it finally hit me that I need Grace desperately and that it’s right here for the asking, a seismic shift happened in my soul. Grace received brings an inner joy that dispels anger and pain. It washes away the grime of conceit and pride. There’s no need for them anymore. But there is an urgent need to give back the Grace that was received.
Grace received must be given away. Who needs my Grace today? Who needs a touch, a smile, a word of encouragement? It doesn’t matter if the other person responds or not. That is their choice, not mine. The urgency is in the giving. Grace is like electricity. It must flow or it becomes ineffective. It must have a conduit. Here I am, Lord, I will be that conduit.
