By the Grace of God – song by Brian and Jenn Johnson
As a society, believers and even unbelievers throw around the phrase “by the grace of God” a lot. I’m not sure how many people stop to think about what that means. More often than not, it’s used in the context of seeing our own circumstances as somehow better than someone else’s (the old “there but for the grace of God go I” classic). But God’s grace is so much bigger than something that can get us out of a tenuous situation.
When we talk or sing about getting through life’s troubles by the grace of God, it’s not a situational occurrence. God didn’t just swoop down to check in with us because he heard we had an important doctor visit or a confrontation we were dreading, or because we didn’t have enough money for a payment that was due.
It goes so much deeper than that. God set the stage early on when he gave a blessing to Moses, for Moses to pass along to Aaron and the priesthood. This particular blessing, in fact is the oldest surviving biblical inscription today, and you may recognize it as one your pastor gives on occasion at the end of a Sunday service:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24–26, ESV)
When God gave this blessing, the Israelites were in the middle of a pretty awful time in the wilderness. I think it’s interesting that he didn’t specifically say, hey gang, I’m going to get you out of this, no worries. What he did say, and what we can always count on, is that he will “keep” us—he’ll be with us. He’ll look upon us with love and will treat us with graciousness, giving us peace in the middle of life’s storms.
God’s grace is a foundation for us to stand on, not a “pop in for a visit” type of Band-Aid. Paul was so certain of this that he considered his life forfeit compared to the opportunity to tell others about it, when he tells this to the Ephesians:
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24, ESV)
The grace of God is a steady rock to lean on—an encouragement that we’re never left to our own devices without backup. Most of all it is sufficient, as we’re reminded in 2 Corinthians 12:9. We don’t have to wonder if we ever have “enough” of God’s grace, and we don’t need to go looking for it everytime a need crops up; it simply is.
From our first breath to our final one, God provides grace we can count on. As often happens, it’s in the looking back when we realize just how all-encompassing that is. We should never stop feeling awe at the weight of that idea. His grace allows us to start with a clean slate. His grace is strong for us when we’re at the end of ourselves.
And best of all, it doesn’t end when our lives come to a close, because his grace has provided us with a savior.
—Lynda Dietz