Do you remember back to when you were a baby? Maybe you can remember back to when you had your own baby. What could that baby do? Almost nothing. Cry. Wet. Nurse. Sleep. How much could that baby NOT do? Almost everything. If it wasn't for your loving care, that baby would have died. All that you did for that helpless baby, things that baby could not do for itself, was grace.
That baby got older, and could start doing a few more things. They could walk and talk, and say please and thank you. They might even be able pour a bowl of cereal and find the milk in the refrigerator. Wow! Soon they learned to tie their own shoes, and empty the dishwasher.
But could they do everything? No. The child can not earn their own income and pay rent on a house. They can't drive a car. They might not even know how to read yet, or sign their name. They need protection, and guidance. They need love and security. They need education, and so much more.
All the things that you do for your children, that they can not do themselves, that is grace you are giving them.
You were once a child, and now you are grown and out on your own. Your life is full of responsibilities that you are meeting daily. You are mature and capable. You can do so much. But can you do everything?
Can you make it rain when the garden is dry? Can you warm winter into spring? Can you make yourself get well when you are sick? Can you reach into a heart and change it from hatred to kindness and sweetness? Can you? No. There are a lot of things that adults need, that only God can provide. We all need God. And all those things that he does for us every day, that is grace.
Grace is all those things that God has done, is doing, and will do for us, that we can not do for ourselves. The biggest grace is salvation and a changed heart. Only God can do that for me. I'm so thankful for His amazing grace.
Some people think I am a good gardener, but I'm not sure I agree with them. I really can't make seeds grow. When you look at a handful of them, they look as dead as the paper package they came in. It is God's grace that makes a bean seed turn into a tall vine creeping all over a wire fence, bearing dozens of bean pods for me to eat. It is God's grace that cherry tomatoes taste so delicious straight off the vine, and that potatoes dug store well all winter. God's amazing grace, all the amazing things he does touches me to the core.
In the spring, seed packets spread over the table, bucket of soil beside, am I thinking about what an amazing gardener I am, while poking seeds in pots? No, I am thinking of how wonderful all the produce is going to taste when it is grown. I am thinking of all that God is going to do. He is going to quicken that little bit of dry plant matter, just like he quickened Adam when he breathed life into some other soil.
Stirring the garden dirt is faith, faith in the faithfulness of the God of grace. If I didn't have faith in God's faithfulness make plants grow in the spring, I would not be out gardening. But God is faithful. Summer follows spring every year. I count on His faithfulness to provide for me and do for me the all the things he does for me that He does for me that I can not do myself. He is the covenant keeping God. He has covenanted to love me with an everlasting love.
"Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need."
Hebrews 4:16
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