Amazed by Grace

I woke up one morning with a song on my heart; an old one, but one that resonated with me in that moment:

Each day I fall on my knees
Your grace still amazes me
(Your Grace Still Amazes Me, Phillips, Craig, and Dean)

I was suddenly humbled by how much grace God has shown me. How could I ever doubt His love, when He sent His only Son to die in my place? How quickly I forget the magnitude of the grace He’s shown me.

When things are hard, we often find it difficult to recognize God’s grace. We doubt His love or think He’s acting harshly, when in fact it is grace!

And in that vein, walking out of a difficult childhood, painful experiences, physical suffering, or burdensome situations hardened and bitter mainly results because of one thing:

We fail to be amazed at God’s grace.

This truth convicts me. I’m not often amazed with God when things don’t go my way! And I’m generally not quick to identify how much grace God has shown me.

Do you know what’s even more amazing? Even when I fail to notice God’s grace, and respond by complaining, anger, or bitterness, God continues to lavish His grace upon me, because He loves His children and treats us with great gentleness.

Sometimes God’s grace is uncomfortable. It comes in a form of a friend pointing out sin. It comes through vulnerability. It comes as we persevere for an unanswered prayer. It comes in the midst of hard decisions. It comes when we admit we are weak. Grace comes through someone praying for you, or the truth penetrating your heart, or the breaking down of walls that you’ve put up. Those things, though immensely hard, can exhibit God’s grace in unique ways that we cannot see when things are going well. But we have to be on the lookout for how God manifests His grace in these seemingly strange ways.

I still don’t understand what God is doing in my life a lot of the time. I have many questions. But no matter what’s happening, I want my life to have a spotlight on His grace. I want the first thing I seek out in the middle of any situation to be: What are evidences of God’s grace to me right now?

So then, no matter what’s thrown at me, I can remind myself of God’s grace to me in that moment.

Because His grace towards me is amazing. For that I’m grateful.

Allison Griffin
One of Allison’s passions includes helping others understand and apply the gospel with grace. Allison longs for those around her to be discipled through God’s Word, and enjoys using writing as an avenue. Currently, she serves as an intern at Vision of Hope, to study and glean more experience in biblical counseling.