Wrestling with Grace

Dear reader, this one's for you.  Unlike one of my newer friends, I'm doing this precisely because I love you.  In fact, it's past midnight, and I can't go to sleep until I write this out.  It may be jumbled, it may be scattered, but it is honest.


You often wonder about what you're doing with your life.  You wonder whether you're making the best decision.  You wonder whether God has something better in store for you.  Despite all the honorable reasons for accepting this tantalizing offer (which, as a matter of fact, is precisely what you've been waiting for), you hesitate for fear of your corrupt motives.


And, you're in very good company.


I am a recovering perfectionist.  This should come as no surprise to you, as we've been well-acquainted for some time.  Even if you only know me through this blog, you can see that I spend just a bit too much time bothering over lexical and syntactic precision.  I am a "recovering" perfectionist because I understand that absolute precision, unadulterated perspicacity beyond ambiguity, is impossible with these words.  In fact, I also understand that the impossibility of such perfect precision extends to all of life in this fallen, temporary world.


I am learning to disdain the abuse of "What if..." questions.  They serve their purpose in the exploration of theoretical knowledge, but abused, they can paralyze any decision and bind all freedom.


Dear reader, dear Christian, I write to remind you of your salvation.  God's grace has saved you from your sins.  You bought your own ticket to perdition, and God rescued you from that decision.  His grace can save you again.  His grace is more powerful than your ability to mess up His plans.  Do you believe this?  Or do you believe that you can miss out on God's best for you?


Who told you that you can mess up God's plans?  I will answer: a sinful person, finite in understanding.  A person to whom God extends His grace day by day.  A person who owes to his neighbors the grace he has been given.  A person who may deserve admonition, who may owe apology, and who may require forgiveness.


God's grace is more powerful than your ability to mess up His plans.  Do you believe this?  If you do not, then logic forbids you from believing in your salvation.


Logic is not more powerful than our hunches, but it certainly helps to guide them.  I plead with you, let logic guide you to more joyous belief in the grace of God.  Wrestle with it.  Drown in it.  Worship through it.


God's grace is more powerful than your ability to mess up His plans.  I believe this with all my heart.


God, thank You for saving us from ourselves!  Thank You for using us in ministry, though we be broken vessels.  Thank You for filling in our gaps, and thank You for vowing to make us whole.  For this we wait, because in You we trust.  Amen.