Reason #678

Sometimes you get what you don’t deserve. Usually, more often than you get what you do deserve. And, if you’re anything like me, that’s probably for the best. Because really, what you need more than getting what you deserve is getting what you don’t deserve – especially when it comes to grace.

 

I’ve learned a lot about grace over the past year. Working with people is the best way to find out whether or not you’re very good at giving out grace. I learned that I wasn’t superb at this, as I often found myself wanting to pull my hair out. People can be hard to deal with, and I’ll admit that I have my days where I can be one of those people. And so grace isn’t easy to dole out when you’re working with “those” types. Grace doesn’t come naturally to most, and I learned that when it comes to grace, I do a great job of creating the need for it but don’t always do the best job of practicing it.

 

Here’s the thing, sometimes people require a lot of extra work. I am one of those, too. People worry and panic over all sorts of things, and it’s easy to wonder why. I would wonder why people stressed over their finances. Hey, just take care of your money and you don’t have anything to worry about. No big deal, I would think to myself. No big deal to me because I get money and finances. I know what I’m doing when it comes to this stuff. Not everyone is like me. And so when you don’t understand, when it seems like things are being blown out of proportion, you practice grace. Because you didn’t know that her husband, the one who had been solely in charge of all of the finances for the past 20 years, just passed away and left her with the job of handling the money she knows nothing about. When she sat at your desk, seeming a little defensive, you didn’t realize it was a cover for the fear and insecurity she was feeling because she really doesn’t get this money stuff at all. And even though it seems simple to you, even though you get it, you realize that it isn’t about whether or not she understands what you’re telling her, it’s about showing grace and letting her sit there and ask questions as long as she needs until she feels better about it all.

 

And maybe you’re like me. Maybe you are one of those people that requires grace because you have your moments, too. Your moments where you freak out because things haven’t always worked in your favor. Maybe you start to get anxious over the things that seem simple and easy to others because to them it’s no big deal. But when it all comes down to it, until we get the full story, we never understand why certain situations matter so much to some and not so much to others. And we can rationalize and reason, come up with plans and ideas on how to help, when what we really need to do is just practice grace. Maybe it means going out of our way to calm fears. Maybe it means doubling up on our patience when we’d rather pull our hair out. Maybe it means that we give someone something they don’t deserve simply because were the roles reversed, we’d appreciate those things in return.

 

We talked about God’s grace yesterday. About how moving and motivating His grace is. How it compels us towards Him rather than away from Him. After all, how could you not love someone who continues to show kindness, patience, and acceptance to you? How could you not appreciate receiving such good things when in reality, you deserve to receive the opposite? It’s the grace that catches us off guard. It’s the grace that captivates us and pulls us in. It’s the grace that changes our lives for the better.

 

And so I got to experience a glimpse of God’s grace this weekend. I got to see how God works through His people, continuing to give us the things we don’t deserve. Because you all know how I was filled with anxiety over such a simple thing – pictures. You all know how I worried and stressed about what the outcome would be and how I was going to look in the finished product. Photoshop is amazing, but photoshop can’t fix awkward smiles, crazy eyes, or funny stances. And it seemed so silly to be THAT concerned about how a picture on a Christmas card was going to turn out. But the reason was deeper. It wasn’t really about the pictures. It was about making sure this first Christmas started out perfectly because of Christmas fears from my past. And so as I worried and fretted over the one thing I couldn’t control, I was given grace. The photographer assured me that I didn’t have anything to worry about. She told me that she thought they turned out really well. She even went as far to say that if it wasn’t what I was imagining, she’d take the time to meet up again and take more pictures. And then, she spent her afternoon editing them and sent them to me as soon as she could so that I could look at them and see the finished outcome. And I just have to applaud her for this. Because it’s not like this was convenient turn around time for her. It’s not like she didn’t have a million other things to work on. And she never had to offer to go the extra mile. She didn’t have to do that for me. But she did all of that to ease my anxious nerves because she loves the Lord and lets Him use her to affect the lives of “those” people like me.

 

The purpose of receiving grace is so that we can show it in return. There will be times where we desperately need it, and there will be times where we are required to practice it. The latter, not being as easy, is the most beneficial. Because it’s by practicing grace that God’s love is shown through us, and when you take the time to show God’s love to someone who may or may not actually deserve it, they never forget it.

 

#678 - Because it's always better when He gives us what we don't deserve than giving us what we do deserve.

 

 ^"It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them. And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved." - Romans 11:5-6