Sustaining Grace

Tom Barnard

 

“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring

 the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying,

‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.’…Indeed I have spoken it;

I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”

(Isaiah 46:9-11 NKJV)

 

God finishes what he starts. Where did we ever get the idea that God is only reactive and never proactive? Is it said anywhere in Scripture that God watches what we do and then decides how to react to it? No. God acts. Man reacts. Coincidence is a man-thing. Providence is a God-thing. God is always in charge. Others may seem to be in control of their destiny (and ours), but only God is in total control. He doesn’t just control the “Big Picture” and let us control the “little picture.” It’s all one picture, and he controls it all.

 

If this is true, why is it that some people believe that God can sustain the world through the power of his word, but when it comes to sustaining us in our time of need, God steps aside and lets us crash and burn?  If we think this way, shame on us! God’s grace is sufficient for any trial we face, any temptation that grips us, any human failure we experience. Paul understood this concept when he wrote:

 

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work

 in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

(Philippians 1:6)

 

Heavenly Father, enlarge my vision of your grace. Help me to see that grace is not only part of the “Big Picture,” but that grace works in the “small picture” as well. Help me to understand that your forgiveness goes “deeper than the stain of sin has gone,” and that nothing can separate me from your love. Teach me to lean upon your grace in the tough places of life, not just when the sun is shining and everything is grand. Forgive me when I am tempted to doubt the height and width and depth of your love for me. With the Apostle, I am confident that you will continue the good work that you have begun in me and sustain it until the day that Jesus Christ returns for me and all who trust in him. Amen.