We don’t wake up expecting to make a mess of things (or at least I don’t) – messiness just kind of happens. Most days I wake up and I have an idea in mind of how the day should go, but I never seem to estimate the mess.
Some days it looks like setting off the smoke alarms while trying to make your sick, pregnant wife some oatmeal.
Some days it looks like forgetting the single-most important item on your to-do list.
Some days it looks like someone cutting you off in traffic and giving you the middle finger of fellowship.
And because of all that mess, some days instead of controlling your emotions you allow your emotions to control you. Messiness happens, frustration happens, anger happens… sin happens.
Thankfully, however, there’s grace for that – all of that.
Grace wasn’t something that was offered to us just once as we became of follower of Jesus. Grace is something that is offered to us on a daily basis. Every minute, every second, every moment can be lived in the grace of God.
Grace can be what defines us as a person.
That’s how Paul viewed things at least. When describing his life as an apostle, all credit went to the grace of God…
“9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:9-10
The grace of God is the only way to make sense of a violent murderer becoming a proclaimer of the Gospel of Peace.
What’s amazing about grace is that it knows no boundaries or limitations. It’s scandalous. Grace allows for Paul to freely admit the depravity of his past and just as freely stand proudly in his present.
Life is messy.
We make mistakes. We mistreat the people we love the most. We say and do things we don’t mean.
But because of the grace of God, we’re not the sum total of our actions and we’re not the sum total of our past.
When grace defines your life – you can know that your good days are because of God’s grace. And on your bad days you can know that God’s grace is sufficient.
Grace isn’t just a word; it’s a gift from God. It’s His gentle hand leading you back into His presence and reminding you of His mercy.
Your bad days, your mistakes, your darkened past, your mess-ups … there’s grace for that.