students of jesus

Grace is abundant and free. It’s the deal of a lifetime, no—eternity. When we understand God’s grace for what it is, we all want in. Who could be opposed to grace? And yet there are opponents of grace. Even more startling: we are ourselves are the opponents of grace.

Our conflicts with grace are the storm fronts in our hearts. I’ve seen three such storms in my own heart. I wonder if apply to you?

Pride

Three times we hear from the scripture, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  (Proverbs 29:23; James 4:6; and 1 Peter 5:5) Three times! I’ve seen pride at work in my heart in at least two ways, one ugly, and the other insidious. The ugly storm front is plain: it comes when I’m offended by the offer of grace. “I don’t want your grace—who are you to offer it to me?” To receive grace is to acknowledge our need. We must humble ourselves to hold the grace we’re given. But my pride is insidious as well: I will gladly offer grace to others because it demonstrates my superiority. In my pride, I will give grace because I think it is mine to give. Because of my position and power I dispense grace out of my own largess. The humble soul understands he is never giver of grace; he can only share the grace he has received.

Bitterness

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:15) The second enemy of grace is our personal pain and suffering. The wounded heart draws inward and avoids even grace itself. I want to be alone, alone in my pain. But this aloneness is an illusion. This passage from Hebrews warns us that, apart form the grace of God, our bitterness and unsettled scores seep into those around us. My bitterness can defile others. We need grace for suffering, even in the everyday slights of life. In our pain, when we refuse grace we defile many. All the while we think we are suffering in silence and solitude, unaware that when one member of the body suffers, the whole body is in pain.

Scarcity

“Scarcity” is a terrible word, except that I can think of no other. My final opponent of grace is my fear that grace is a zero-sum game, that grace comes prepackaged in fixed amounts. I suspect that these 12 ounces are the only measure of grace I have—or will ever be given. My mind has yet to inform my heart that his mercy endures forever, and comes in limitless supply. I am the frightened sparrow who thinks his small breaths will consume all the air in the sky. Whatever grace I find I must keep for myself. Who knows where I’ll find more? Yet if the Father clothes the flowers of the field and feeds the birds of the air, how much more will he provide the life-giving freedom of grace? Here is the supply of Heaven: when I share the grace I’ve received, I discover the source of all grace, who gives the Spirit without limit.

These are my grace battles. And what of you? What are the enemies of grace that storm in your heart? I’d love to know. And you need to tell.

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