Gracious God… “But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them”. Nehemiah 9:17b
You may ask, “How do I qualify for God’s grace?” Breathe. If you are alive you qualify. His grace reaches a wife who feels worthless because of the verbal and physical lashes from her husband. The grace of God goes out to a brain cancer victim who awaits major uncertainty with an unproven clinical procedure. Your gracious God offers buckets of grace at your point of fear, rejection, anger, dismissal, job loss, divorce or addiction.
Indeed, daily we are all candidates for God’s grace, so take the time to appropriate His great gift. In prayer and by faith receive what your Sovereign Lord offers in abundance. Isaiah says it beautifully, “O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress” (Isaiah 33:2). In your bankrupt business and broken soul His grace is sufficient to see you through. Gulp down gallons of grace.
Moreover, because you have the grace of God at your disposal be a dispenser of grace. In the heat of relational conflict its not about you and your way, it about the Lord’s way. His remedy for relational angst is grace. Give grace to the ungracious and God will bless your efforts with healing and understanding. People who live in fear have no concept or understanding of faith, but your gracious response gives them a glimpse into grace.
When they lash out; listen. When they accuse; forgive. When they are angry; stay calm. When they are critical; pray for them. When they give up; be there for them. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Grace is the governor that keeps relational engines running smoothly. Be a grace giver and you will never lack people to love!
Do I regularly receive a fresh infusion of God’s grace into my mind, soul and spirit? Do I liberally live out grace and give grace to the ungracious and undeserving?
Related Readings: Proverbs 22:11; Joel 2:13; Ephesians 3:7; Philemon 1:25
Transformational Living
What did I learn from the Lord in today’s Bible reading?
How will I respond?