How much grace does it take for God’s mercy to renew every morning? Why do we need it to? Why does it renew? Lamentations 3:22-23 states that, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.”
In 2 Corinthians 2:9 we read that God’s grace is sufficient and that our power is made perfect in weakness. Grace can take on all shapes and sizes in our lives. It looks different for every individual because there are often different reasons to extend grace to one another. Grace in some instances can come with strings attached – “I’ll give you grace, if you do this for me.” Grace can be temporary – “I’ll give you grace but only this time.” Grace can be small – “I’ll give you grace but only this much, for this reason.” Grace can be rare – “I don’t have it in me to give you grace right now.” Only God’s perfect grace is perfectly sufficient. In Ephesians 1:8 we read that it is in accordance with His riches that He lavishes us with His grace, with all wisdom and understanding.
When I was younger, one of my neighbors came over to show off his new mini motorcycle. As he rode it around my property, all I could think of was how much fun he appeared to be having. When he was finished riding, he brought it over to me and asked if I wanted to try it out for myself. A resounding, “Yes!” came out of my mouth. How much fun was this going to be, I asked myself. I reluctantly admitted that I didn’t know how to ride one. He told me that it was easy. “Just turn the handle to go” he said. I replied, “OK, great!” As I proceeded to pick up speed, a lot of speed, I rapidly became aware that we didn’t discuss how to stop the thing. I immediately realized this to be a crucial error. In my defense I was very young, single digits. I didn’t have much time to think. I was going so fast, with so much power, that if I turned the handlebars, I’d flip or lose control. At that point I did what any kid would do, I decided to continue going in a straight line. 50 or 60 feet in front of me was my mother’s brand-new car. I continued to pick up speed. I think I had seen too many superhero movies up to that point because I imagined myself gently touching the car and gracefully flipping over the trunk and landing on my feet on the other side. Graceful right? I ended up crashing hard and I dented the rear quarter panel deep into the trunk space. I flew over the trunk just like I had planned but didn’t land as graceful as I would’ve liked. When I got up, I saw the damage I did to the car. I was devastated. I knew there was no way to hide it. I know because I tried to pound the dent back not place with a hammer. Even with the help of my friend we couldn’t move all the metal back into place. We both knew that I was going to receive the worst punishment imaginable. I told my friend that he should just leave because our play time was going to be over, probably forever. As my friend went home, I made the decision to come clean and tell my mother. She was inside washing the dishes. She took one look at me and saw my distress and asked, “What happened?” I took her by the hand and said, “You’d better come with me to find out.” As I led her outside, with every step I could feel my heart sinking deeper in fear. I had no idea what a punishment awaited me for an offense as great as this. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I just knew the result was going to be terrible because the offense seemed so irredeemable and expensive! When her eyes caught the damage, I closed mine and braced for the impact that I knew I deserved. Instead came the biggest hug that I have ever received from my mother. She literally lifted me from where I stood and twirled with me in her arms. I was shocked. In tears she said, “I am so proud of you! You are alright! And, you could have lied, but you found the courage to tell me the truth….” What was happening here? Why hadn’t I received punishment? Why was she acting this way? This was my earliest example of receiving grace that I can remember. Instead of receiving a deserved punishment, I received love instead. I had received an unmerited favor from my mother.
God’s grace and forgiveness is like that of a parent to a child. However, only He can give perfect love and perfect grace. “‘In Him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed His offspring.’” (Acts 17:28-29)
These things are certain: ♦ We need God’s grace; we couldn’t live without it. ♦ We don’t deserve His grace; it is a gift and is freely given. ♦ His grace is sufficient for us and is in no short supply. ♦ His grace has no strings attached and is with us wherever we go. ♦ God’s grace has the unique virtue of being applied to our lives on a continual basis because of His great love for us.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“. (Eph, 2:4-5)
It is important to remember that grace is in our life. Thank God for His numerous examples of perfect love, mercy, and grace!
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