Tag Archives: grace

In need of Grace

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“I have come to deep waters and the flood sweeps over me…”
(Psalm 69:2 ESV)

This week we are saddened by the tragedy that has fallen upon us in Tucson, AZ.  Six people were killed on Saturday, including a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge, and 14 were injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.  Seemingly overshadowed by this is the school shooting in Omaha, where the Vice Principle was killed, and the student/shooter took his own life.  Such tragedy drives us to our knees, and we remember in prayer the families and friends of those who were lost or injured.  To make matters worse, the vultures from Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church are now protesting the memorial services and celebrating the violence.  We can feel, in times like this, like the Psalmist, that we’re sinking in the mire, the floodwaters are coming, and we are weary in crying out to God.

Unfortunately, while many are praying, what gets the most attention right now is the finger pointing and blame gaming that’s going on.  Some are quick to blame gun laws and call for tighter restrictions.  This was all we heard for months after Columbine.  Others are blaming “ultra-conservative political rhetoric,” and are suggesting that we need greater control over the content of talk radio and political speech.  “Hate-Speech” legislation is already being drafted, but if its anything like what other nations have, will be open to interpretation and will greatly restrict even what is said in the pulpit.

The truth is no amount of gun legislation or restriction on political rhetoric would have stopped these events.  These men were lost, their hearts and minds were darkened, and they were bent on inflicting harm and terror on the lives of others.  New laws will only restrict the freedoms of those who keep the law.  As comedian Brad Stine once put it,

When did banning anything ever work?  We banned liquor once in this country and that worked like a charm didn’t it folks?  You couldn’t find a drink in the roaring twenties could ya?  You see that’s the problem with the banning thing, people think if you change the external suddenly everybody will start being nice to each other.  If it works so well, let’s not stop there, let’s not ban guns: let’s ban crime.

Every external restriction we place on ourselves in order to save us from ourselves will eventually fail.  This world is a broken place, in desperate need of salvation.  We don’t need new laws, we need new hearts.

Still, the world is not as evil as it could be.  I compare our world today with the description we find in Genesis 6, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  I am not being pessimistic, simply realistic.  Ours is a broken world, subject to evil, captive to sin, usurped by despotic power, in need of the redeeming and healing grace of God.

One of the lessons we learn in confirmation is that God’s grace restrains us from sin.  We are, in our sin, Totally Depraved, that is, unable to do anything that is not tainted by sin.  But we are not utterly depraved.  We are not as bad as we can possibly be.  God’s grace keeps us from coming to that point.  This is known as God’s common grace.  Cornelius Plantinga describes is like this:

If all human sewers gushed full force all the time, life would end in a miserable flood of evil.  That is why God checks the floods.  He holds them back.  He partly plugs the sewers.  As an army corps of engineers controls the pollution of an oil spill in the ocean, so God controls human pollution by laws and civilization, by customs and teachings and the good influence of believers.

Such common grace, while saving us from the greatest of evil in our hearts, cannot save us from ourselves.  We need new hearts and minds.  We need forgiveness, redemption, to be reconciled to God.  We need nothing less than God’s grace to save us and give us new life.  That grace, and not another law, is what will transform our culture, our society, our world.  That grace, which redeems and strengthens us in the midst of evil, is the only thing that will save us.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see.

SDG

And the answer is… No

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“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…”
(2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV) 

 

Not long ago, the family was gathered around the table for supper – my favorite – Tator-Tot Casserole.  We took a moment to pray, thanking God for our family and the food He provided.  When everyone said, “Amen,” my son looked up and said, “We need to pray again?”  “Why,” my wife asked.  To which his response was, “Cause I want jelly-butter instead.”

It took a while to explain that that’s not exactly how prayer worked (actually, it took longer to convince him to eat his supper).  We didn’t want to discourage his young spirit from taking everything to God in prayer.  He needed to know that even though God didn’t change his dinner options, God still listened to his prayer and loved to hear him pray.  Still, he also needed to know that sometimes God answers our prayers with a “No.”

My son doesn’t like to hear “No,” but if we’re honest, neither do any of us.  How many times do we come up with what we think is a great idea, only to be told “no” by those who have greater insight and understanding.  “No, you can’t buy that,” “no, you can’t have this promotion,” “no, you have to stay right here.”  It can be frustrating, disappointing, and discouraging to hear “no.”

Sometimes, we hear “no” and think “not yet,” or “maybe.”  We continue to push forward in the things we want, the plans we’ve made, only to set ourselves up for even greater disappointment.  “I know this is the right thing for me, even though everyone else says it’s not.  Even though they say ‘no,’ I say ‘yes.’”

We do this with God.  We pray that God will guide us as we make our choices.  Then, when the doors seem to shut in our face, when friends and counselors tell us to look elsewhere, we ignore God’s “no” and press forward anyway.

Here’s the simple truth: If God says “no” to your prayers, it’s because He has something better in store for you.  So many times we go to God, asking Him to approve of our choices even though they may not be honoring to God or beneficial to ourselves and others.  We think we’ve thought through all the possibilities, and that God should see our wisdom and say, “I wish I had thought of that.”  Instead, God, who is infinitely wise, powerful, and sovereign, knows what is right and best for His people.  If we go to God in prayer, and the answer to our prayers is a resounding “no,” shouldn’t we listen and obey?

Paul had this experience.  He had been given “a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan,” he calls it, to keep him from being too proud of his ecstatic vision of heaven (2 Cor. 12).  Whether this “messenger of Satan” was a physical injury, hardship and oppression, or just a really cranky and obnoxious dissenter in his church, we will never know.  We do know that Paul pleaded with the Lord three times to have this thorn removed, and every time the Lord’s answer was clearly, “NO!”

Why?  Why wouldn’t the Lord remove this obstacle from Paul so that he could continue in to thrive in his ministry?  Is God the ultimate kill-joy, withholding His power so that His people would suffer?  Surely God could remove this burden from Paul if He desired.  Couldn’t God see how much better life would be for Paul if He would only answer this prayer?

It was precisely for Paul’s ministry, and for his joy in life, that God said “no.”  God’s answer to Paul was this, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  God could have removed whatever had been causing Paul such pain, but then Paul would never have learned to rely so completely on the all-sufficient grace of God.  Paul would have trusted in his strength, rather than in the power of Christ that rested upon him.  Paul would never have learned to be content in God through “weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.”  He never would have come to the point of saying, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Friends, if God is telling you “no” when you pray, learn to trust that His “no” is gracious and kind, that God has something greater in store for you.  His plans for you are good, not evil, plans for a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11).  Faithfully wait in His “no,” and see how His grace is made sufficient for you, how His power is made perfect in your weakness.

Grace and peace,

SDG