Dwindling Resources - Grace

Dwindling Resources - Grace

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.^a —Anne Lamott

GRACE. A word that has all but disappeared from our vocabulary. A concept that rarely crosses our preoccupied minds. An asset few of us enjoy—either as the giver or as the recipient.

Of all the dwindling resources, grace is the asset I most often find myself struggling to preserve; the one I must learn to store up in the warehouse of my heart. Fierce competition, expectation, the daily whirl of my hectic schedule, independence, and my egocentric thinking all challenge my capability to extend or receive grace. I excel at neither.

Receiving grace is difficult for me because my pride gets in the way. I want to look like I have it all together; thus I become embarrassed when someone wants to extend to me a gift of service. Then there’s the issue that sometimes I’m suspicious. I always wonder, What’s behind this? What does this person expect of me in return? What are her motivations for doing this? I run through these mental gymnastics because, in my past, my extended favors were conditional. I was expecting something in return.

So four years ago when my new friend Donna showed up at my door with food, a card, or a hug, I was stumped! It took me almost a year to learn how to receive her grace without strings. Undeserving of her warm gestures of kindness and care, I had to learn to accept freely (and without the conviction that I must return the favor) the thoughtful service and warmth of this young woman. I intuitively understood that not to accept would be the equivalent of shunning grace in the flesh.

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. (Romans 12:8)

And if you have been gifted with such a person as Donna in your life, respond to his or her grace—graciously.

^a Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies (New York: Random House, 1999), 143.