Writing Prompt #5: Grace

Tanner's prompt for today is Grace. I assume he picked it because it's my middle name.

I remember studying grace in Confirmation class. We used this acronym:

God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense

As a kid, this seemed so simple. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." God loved the sinful, broken world, the world that turned away from him time and time again, the world that deserved nothing but rejection. He loved that world so much that he sent his Son to suffer and die for its salvation. Nothing else mattered.

As an adult, this doesn't feel so simple. I am like the Israelites in the desert - liberated from slavery and complaining about the food. "Salvation is great, God, but what about my career? What about my mental health? What about marriage?" I find myself relating to the Israelites more every day. "What about that food, God? You couldn't expect them to be happy about eating the same thing every day?"

Paul understood the temptation to be bitter and angry. He wrote to the Philippians, "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

I want to ask Paul to tell me the secret. I want to be content! I can't even describe how much I want to be content in every circumstance! But he tells us the secret: he did all this through Christ. Jesus, the grace-giver, strengthened his faith and enabled him to face every situation with confidence. God gave Paul the ability to be content. He has also given it to us. We find it in his Word, in meeting with one another (even through technological means), in worship, in praise, in prayer. We don't have to seek out the secret. It's grace. We already have it.

Knowing that we have the power already to be content - let that be a game-changer for us.

Stay tuned for May 16th: Dogs. It's bound to be an interesting ride.