Living in God's Grace
As a believer, I’ve encountered the word “grace” many times throughout my walk with The Lord. Whether it be in a bible verse, or the latest gospel song, or an Instagram quote, or my favorite coffee mug, this term pops up around me all of the time, but if I’m honest, the implications it held for my relationship with The Lord eluded me for a really long time. For me, this word often fell into a category of noteworthy christian sayings that it seemed like I should understand, but could never really explain, and this gave way to a lot of confusion. My inability to internalize God’s grace towards me, made me unable to understand how he saw me. So, I lived my life fueled by a constant need to strive, prove, and do, which made me unable to grasp the full impact of what Jesus had already done for me through his sacrifice on the cross. In truth, I think many christians tend to live like this devoting themselves to endless cycles of trying because it’s such an easy trap to fall into. When I was finally able to break free from that cycle, I was left in a state of awe because I could finally understand what a gift God’s grace truly was in its fullness. In writing this post, I hope to help you find that same sense of awe and freedom by knowing that with God’s grace you don’t have to try, just abide.
What it Means to Live in God’s Grace
Living in God’s grace is a constant lesson in letting go. You can’t work for it, and while you may think it sounds easy, it’s actually the most challenging aspect about it. The Lord’s grace is all about faith and trust, which means that no amount of work can help you earn it. As someone who frequently identified as a self proclaimed hard worker, this was a tough pill to swallow. I prided myself on my ability to be diligent, and to meet the needs of everyone around me, and my sense of worth came from my ability to produce and do well. So, as a christian, my first inclination was naturally to bring all of that energy into my relationship with God. I tried so hard to follow all of the right rules, and to say all of the right things, and to be the right type of person, and... I was miserable because I realized quickly that I could never get it all right. Then, as my faith grew, I began to realize that God never wanted or requested perfection from me, and he didn’t need my works. He simply wanted me to trust in the work that he had already done and to believe that his grace was sufficient enough to right all of the things that I had gotten wrong. John 3:16 is a perfect example of this where It says that, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Here we see that God has already interceded, forgiven, protected, and saved us all. So all that is left for us to do is rest.
4 Practical Tools For Living in God’s Grace:
These four tools may seem like obvious christian basics that everyone would know, but in actuality many people don’t implement them on a regular basis. Being able to internalize God’s grace for us comes through close intimacy with him, and these tools serve as foundational pillars to fostering a close relationship. If you actively implement these into your life, I’m positive that you’ll begin to discover the true depth of God’s love for you more and more.
Read your bible regularly- The bible is the primary way that we are able to learn about who God is, how our world came to be, and what God’s will for our lives is. Furthermore, its pages are filled with stories about Jesus and his faithfulness, grace, mercy, and love. So, the bible should always be the first resource that we turn to for intimacy with God and understanding because it’s his living word.
Pray constantly- Prayer is important because it is the main way that we are able to communicate with God, and by faith we can trust that he hears us. Prayer is an invitation for Jesus to join us in our daily lives, and it reminds us to not lean on our own understanding but on the wisdom of The Lord.
Have a daily quiet time- Setting aside a few minutes everyday to sit in stillness before The Lord helps us to remember that before we are citizens of the world, we are children of God, and as the world races on, we are given the grace to slow down. In our quiet time, we allow God to pour into us, and we can trust that no time spent with him is a waste.
Worship- As children of God, worship is how we express our gratitude and thanks to him for all that he has done, and It is also how we war against attacks of the enemy. So making time to worship God is pivotal to building a relationship with him.
Receiving Sabbath Rest
The byproduct of receiving God’s saving grace is that we also get the luxury of experiencing his sabbath rest, which is important because it helps us to remember that provision comes from God and we are not him. This act of surrender enables us to live life a little slower, and it frees us from the need to strive. One of my favorite verses on rest comes from The Message bible in Matthew 11: 28-30 where Jesus says,
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
I love how this translation depicts the nature of our relationship with God because he’s literally just asking us to be with him and to keep pace with him. He’ll do the rest. This can be hard to do when we are focused on our own goals and ambitions. However, when we step back and remember that God is with us, we realize that God is able to accomplish more in our rest than we ever could on our own.
Tips For Experiencing Sabbath Rest:
Schedule your time every week
Limit electronics
Journal and meditate
Try not to do a lot
God’s grace calls us out of our shame and urges us to press forward in full confidence with our faith. While it isn’t a guarantee that everything in our lives will be perfect, it is a guarantee that God’s presence will go before us in every circumstance despite our shortcomings, and this is what makes the concept of grace so wonderful. As we place our dependence on God, we are reminded that we were always meant to walk in companionship with him, and he receives all of the glory. With that said, I leave you with one of my favorite scriptures.
“For I am the Lord your God
Who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.”
Isaiah 41:13