Grace

Today I am simply wallowing in grace.

Due to reasons that sound more like excuses, I haven’t read enough, prayed enough, or praised enough during the past few weeks.  My quiet times have been quick verses squeezed in between too little sleep and too much schedule, and my supplications have been sincere but short.  In other words, if I were checking the boxes on my Sunday School offering envelope (some of you know exactly what I’m talking about!), I might as well not even pick up the pen.

But here’s the good news:  I’m still God’s—just as much as if I had memorized all the Minor Prophets, fasted four days straight, and had a prayer and petition marathon.  God doesn’t love me any less for not doing those things, and He wouldn’t love me any more if I had done them. Of course there are benefits and blessings of intentional intimacy and connection with God (just as there are for every relationship we cherish and nurture), but I’m not any “more” God’s when I do those good things than when I don’t, and for such grace I am thankful on days like today.  And so I wallow.

Some of you may never have had the privilege of seeing a pig wallow in person.  It’s not always a pretty sight as a hog hunkers down in the mud, rolling to and fro on his back with his stumpy legs swaying side to side in the air and his head grinding back and forth in the mire to help him sink deeper and deeper into the dirty delight.  But the pig isn’t going for pretty; he’s aiming for comfort, contentment, and the feeling of being securely surrounded by something that feels amazingly good.  For a pig, that’s grime.  For me, it’s grace.

And so today, though it’s not a pretty sight, I hunker down in God’s grace, not standing on my own actions or attitudes but flat on my back looking up to Him, and I sink deeper and deeper into His divine delight.  And because I know that even on days when I do all the right and good things, it’s still His grace and His grace alone that makes me His and keeps me His, I am comforted, content, and feel securely surrounded by something that feels amazingly good—grace.  Amazing race that is greater than all our sin, and astounding grace that is bigger than all our best. 

Come wallow with me.  Grace is a great place to be.