God’s Grace
Humble and Upright
"But, for the grace of God, I don't know what would have
happened to me"
"I can say for sure that it was only God's grace that saved
me"
"If not for God's grace, I certainly would have lost my
mind, when the tragedy hit the family"
These
are common comments we hear every day – and we give it as much thought as we
would if someone were to say, "Oh! Today, I got a great bargain at the
corner shop sale".
It is
human to remember God when we are in trouble and acknowledge his intervention
in our lives when the outcome is positive. Perhaps, it is also important to
reflect upon God's presence in our life, when all is going well. One way to do
that is to constantly seek His grace upon our life and the lives of our dear
and near ones.
Is it
as easy as that? Is God's grace available just for the asking? Remember the
great floods, when "only Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord"
(Gen 6:8). And, what about those who perished in the flood? Seeing their
wickedness, the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth. The Word of
God says, "He was grieved in His Heart".
Who,
then, is God's grace reserved for? We learn in Psalm 84:11
For
the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The
Lord will give grace and glory;
No
good thing will he withhold
From
those who walk uprightly.
Clearly
God's grace is reserved for the upright and the righteous. Jesus Himself
exhorted us, "But seek first the Kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all these things shall be added on to you. (Matt 6:33).
Is righteousness, then, the only quality sought by God of his people? According
to James 4:6, humility is another key attribute, for James
says, "God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble".
When we
speak of God's grace, who is the giver of this grace? Jesus Christ,
undoubtedly. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Paul adds to what John has said by
stating in Ephesians 1:7 " In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace.".
So,
what is the means of obtaining this grace? We know that righteousness and
humility are a must. However, does that guarantee God's grace in our life?
According to St Paul (Rom 11:6), "The choice is based on His
grace, not on what we have done. For if God's choice was based on what we do,
then his grace would not be real grace. And, again, in Ephesians 2:8 the great
evangelist Paul says, " For by grace you have been saved through truth,
and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God."
Now,
for those living in grace, like St Paul, grace can take another dimension
altogether, where a negative exists because of God's grace. Paul entreated
Jesus three times to take away a physical ailment that was tormenting him, a
'thorn in the flesh'.
Our
one-sided understanding of grace would lead us to believe that Jesus would have
heard Paul's prayer and rid him of this problem. Instead, Jesus tells Paul,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in
weakness"(2 Cor 12:9).
Strangely,
Paul rejoices in this assurance given by Jesus, in much the same way as Peter,
when asking Jesus to wash him from head to toe, after initially resisting the
idea of Jesus washing his feet. The significance of 'humility' must be seen in
this light.
A key
part of living in grace is to know and unconditionally accept whatever God has
in store for us – like Paul did - the good and the seemingly painful (joyful or
redemptive suffering to atone and purge the negative qualities in us or in
someone else that God has entrusted in our care).
As we usher
in the New Year, let us seek God's grace that our faith will remain resolute
and strong – in good times as well as bad. And, as St Paul is known to do at
the end of most of his letters to the new Christian community – may you too be
blessed with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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