Grace Does it All

I have been operating as though grace is a human extension that simply makes up for my lack. Whatever I can’t be, do or achieve for God gets a little extra grace from those who put up with me, to get it all the way to Him. In seasons of failure or unhealth I require more of it, draining the ones around me.

Needing more grace from others has felt like a backhanded slight. Like something was being extended to me that other people didn't need as much as I did, or like something was being extended to me that I should never have "dipped into" in the first place.

Giving grace to others became a way to make up for the gaps of living in Christian community; gaps defined by the subjectivity of people and grace contrived in pity. Those who needed more grace extended to them were those of us who just could never get it right. Eventually grace became synonymous with extending pitiful patience to a pathetic believer. Something to toss at them in the rear view as you walk away from them.

Giving grace has been cheapened to asking someone to simply “excuse me”. To excuse my limited capacity, my humanity, my failures — Implying an ability is actually present to accomplish anything without needing grace.

We want to outrun the grace we need. We don’t want to need it, or at least not a lot of it.

We want just enough grace to stay humble but not so much as to feel the weight of our lack, or for others to feel the weight of our lack.

“Grace doesn’t help, it does it all.” - David Guzik

Could it be that grace is not for “making up the difference” in following Jesus? Could it be that each of us has been saved and is being saved by the same grace that makes us level at the cross?

We don't always remember that the grace we're giving isn't even of our own making. We don't extend grace from within ourselves. A gracious person isn't just someone who can forgive easily, it is someone who enjoys the grace of God for themselves so deeply that grace naturally flows out. We can only extend grace to the extent that we enjoy the grace of God for ourselves.

We are saying "the grace in me sees the grace in you." That's why it was given to us in Christ in the first place.

Maybe grace has felt like the water bottle that we carry around if we need it. It weighs heavy on our wrists and we would much rather be seen carrying it than actually partaking of it.

But if grace does it all, then I am free to live for Jesus without fear. Accepting my need for daily grace that starts from the bottom up frees me from striving, pride and self-righteousness. From despair, defensiveness and shame. This gracious living also frees me to obedience.

If I am afraid to accept the free gift of grace from God, it could be that I am living like I can earn it from him. If I am afraid to operate in the overflowing grace from His people, it could be that I am not living in the overflowing grace I already have. Fear of grace tells me that I have some idols in my heart that need turning over: pride, control, self-righteousness, shame and finding my identity in what men think of me.

Grace isn’t simply for making up for or pardoning my lack. Grace isn’t to “top me off” spiritually. It is the baseline from which I start and end each day with the Lord.

Grace helps me to honor other believers, resist the devil and walk as an ambassador for Christ. Because it is actually true that I can do nothing apart from the gift of grace purchased for me by Jesus Christ.

Grace does it all. I get to drink it in and let it overflow to others.

To the degree that I acknowledge my continual helpless estate I will truly be able to live free, to stay free in Christ.

I will be able to sing “were it not for grace” over every success and every failure. For the grace of God is not a supplement to my faith, it is the substance of it.