In Need of Grace

"The message at my funeral is not my merit, but God's grace. Don't sing my praises, sing His." That was the instruction I received many times in the last year of Dad's life here on earth. One of the many songs he selected was written by Julia Johnston, probably around the beginning of the 20th century and it contains this message:

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe.

You that are longing to see His face, Will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace! Grace! God's Grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.

Grace! Grace! God's Grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin.

I can still hear his bass voice booming out those low notes as I played it for him. The irony for me was that he was such a good man that I never thought of him needing God's grace. He just seemed to be a natural at loving and giving and devotion to God and others. When I expressed that, he assured me that there are always inner struggles this side of heaven to keep us in need of God's mercy, grace and  forgiveness, we just don't always see our needs until the shadows fall.

The Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky is one of our favorite places. There are miles and miles of trails, over 100 natural arches, waterfalls and extraordinary views of God's creation. Once when Dana and I went for a long weekend, we were so anxious to get to the top of Natural Bridge, an arch carved out by a thousands of years of erosion, that we dropped our luggage in the lodge and took off to the top to watch the sunset. It was spectacular, as expected. As we headed back down the decent to the lodge, we realized our folly in our rush to the top. We hadn't brought a flashlight. It was no problem to trek through the forest in daylight; climb the inclines (that get exponentially steeper with each year that we age) or hug the high side of the trail to avoid the forty-plus foot drops on the cliff side of the trails. Neither of us gave a moments consideration to our need of light for the trip down after the sun set. We made it down, obviously, but only by the grace of God. 

In the same way, life may seem to be going great in our pursuit of a goal, but there will always be those times when darkness settles in and we are made aware of our constant need of God's grace. God is not surprised or dismayed by our need of Him. He created us to be dependent on Him. He knows the darkness that plagues us and is not ashamed of us. Hiding and wallowing in guilt is not beneficial to anyone. Reaching out and holding on to Him (like I held on to Dana's belt to find my way down the mountain) is what gets us to our destination.

Humble yourself and realize your need for a God of grace and mercy. Don't do life without it. You will be miserable and so will those around you. It was unfathomable love that transformed the Creator of the universe into a mortal so that He could bear our punishment and bestow His unending grace upon us. Why refuse that gift and drown in your sin and self-condemnation. Grab hold of His belt and let Him guide you down the mountain, away from the cliff and into the place of light.