GRACE, PLEASE!
by
Pastor Suzanne
Father, please give me grace, is a request I often make of God. Today’s dispensation of grace was for people who park in no parking zones so that, while turning off a side street onto the main road, I was almost creamed from both directions because I could not see the cars coming at me! My instinct was to stop my car and scream at the people who parked there. Two of them, all dressed up in suits and ties, were standing by their huge vehicles talking and watching my near mishap. I wanted to tell them their mothers did raise idiots. O, Lord, give me grace
What kind of witness would this have been for our precious Lord? Picture this. I get out of the car, walk over to these men, begin my barrage, and hear one say, “Guess she’s not the pastor of that car.” For – you see, I have a sign on my car window that declares I am a pastor. Throwing my fit would have declared something else altogether: I am the idiot!
Instead of overreacting, I said a quick prayer for grace! Lord, let me show Your grace in all situation, even this one, and drove on.
Many of us who claim to be born again in Christ wear bumper stickers on our cars stating that Jesus is the only way, and Jesus is peace, etc… Yet, when difficulty maneuvering traffic comes, or people cut us off on the highway, or, as today, cars are parked so they block our view, we resort to worldly language and/or sign language. As Creflo A. Dollar likes to say it, “we dig up our book of cuss.”
In II Corinthians 12:9, Paul tells us about the thorn in his flesh sent to buffet him. He wanted Jesus to get rid of it for him, however, Jesus told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” In other words, whatever it was that Paul was dealing with (I think it was a demon troubling him. Remember he said in Romans 7:19 that the things he wishes to do, he doesn’t do, and the things he wishes not to do, that he does), Jesus said He would give him the “grace” to deal with it. If Paul had trouble walking in grace, how can we ever think we can accomplish it in our lives?
We know that we can have grace because we can have whatever we ask believing (Matthew 21:22) that is in accordance to God’s will for our lives. We know that grace is a gift of God because Scriptures make it clear it came to us through Jesus. Luke 2:40 says this about Jesus. “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” The gospel of John 1:14-17, said this of Jesus, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
One thing people will tell you is, “Don’t pray for grace, peace, patience, etc… or God will send situations into your life that will require these attributes. Duh! Isn’t that how we increase in the knowledge of these things? I mean, if you want grace don’t you have to ask for and develop it? If so, how do you develop it unless you have occasion to practice it? I want the fullness of God in my life. Ephesians 3:17-19 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Grace is a major attribute in our Savior and I want it in me.
After I began writing this note, several situations presented themselves as a means to distract me from my goal of developing and maintaining an attitude of grace in my life. In one of the situations I faced a personal spiritual attack. That was an easy one and grace won out. The result of that was that a dear friend was born-again the very next day. Another instance was a major mix-up when several personalities came together to deal with a situation. I reacted strongly to the presence of a very precious friend whom I was not expecting to see there. There wasn’t much grace in how I handled that one. The result being that my friend had her feelings hurt. Bless God she has a forgiving spirit and all is well with us. But grace would have been a valuable tool to use instead of my own thought process. O, Lord, give me grace!
According to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, grace is a kind act or word bestowed on someone. I have not always had or used grace, but I’m getting closer! God is great and is full of grace. Since it’s something He has, it’s something He wants to bestow into our lives. A simple seeking in prayer will bring rich rewards of grace. If a time comes when you handle something so wrongly that another gets hurt, do as my dear friend RoseRNFA says. ”Snap out of it!” and get on with the learning process. By this you will bless God and He will bless you.
To God be the glory!
