New Morning Mercies #256

Grace means you can never say that it’s too hard, that you’ve been left on your own, or that you simply don’t have enough.

You did it a hundred times yesterday, you’ll do it a hundred times today, and you’ll do it a hundred times tomorrow. Most of the time, you are completely unaware that you’re doing it. It is a major part of what it means to be a rational human being. You never leave your life alone. You are constantly trying to make sense out of the situations and experiences of your life. We are all theologians and philosophers, no matter what our normal jobs in life may be. Every one of us is an archaeologist; we dig through the mounds of our own little lives to make sense of the “civilization” that has shaped us. Because we all have this inner drive for life to make sense, we are all in a constant conversation with ourselves. You really do talk to you a hundred times a day. Most of us have learned that it’s best not to move our lips or people will think that we’re crazy. But we all do it.

The things you say to you about yourself, about God, and about life are very, very important because they are formative of the way you act and react to the things that God places in your life. In those silent and private conversations that you have with you, you are remembering God’s grace or you’re not. When you remember God’s grace, you tell yourself that you’re not alone, that you’re not left to the small batch of your own resources, and that you have been graced with all that you need right here, right now to be what God has called you to be and to do what God has chosen for you to do. When you remember God’s grace, you are also reminded of his presence and his promises. Ultimately, human rest is not found in measuring the size of your righteousness, strength, and wisdom against the size of what you’re facing. No, rest is found when you compare the size of what you’re facing to the person, presence, character, power, and grace of the One who is with you wherever you go.

What is God’s best gift of grace? The answer is easy—himself. God knew that our need would be so great that the only gift that would meet our need would not be an it or a thing. No, grace means that he meets our deepest need with the greatest, most transformative of gifts—he willingly gives us himself. Today, as you’re having that conversation with yourself one more time, remind yourself of that gift, and as you do, rest in the fact that because you have been given the gift of gifts, you are never alone and never without the resources that you need.

For further study and encouragement: Psalm 23