The Simplicity of Grace

As believers and followers of Christ we all know and comprehend the concept of grace or at least have a basic understanding of what it is. But do we actually accept this amazing gift to it's fullest, the way it was meant to be received? I feel that this is a common struggle among Christians. When we sin we know what we have to do to be forgiven. It's a pretty uncomplicated process really. Ask God to forgive you with a repentant heart and wham you're forgiven by the blood of Christ. Unfortunately we tend to complicate this process that was made to be simple. 

There have been many occasions where I've been down this road. I would go as far as to say that it's probably the second biggest thing that has hindered my relationship with God in the past. The last and final time I went through this was a mere two weeks ago. For what seemed like the millionth time I was stuck in that old familiar place of knowing and understanding the grace of God but not acting on it due to the deceit I was constantly letting into my head from the enemy. Satan had convinced me that the receiving of grace was a long, painful, and complicated process in which I wouldn't want to participate in. So I went on with my daily life without God. It was such a spiritually dull and boring time for me, rightfully so. One night my close friends Dan, Mark, Ethan and I decided to go do some praying together after an event at church. I went into the whole thing telling myself that I couldn't pray or do anything with or for God in my then current state. I almost can't even describe the thoughts that were rolling through my head as my buddies began to pray and talk. So I secluded myself from the prayer and conversation that was going on and just sat there feeling completely stuck without any sense of direction. After a while Dan noticed my behavior and asked me what was going on. I struggled to find the words to describe my situation and was only really able to squeak out that I was having trouble going before God and repenting. My situation sparked conversation in the room and my friends ended up telling me exactly what they needed to tell me which was that I had to repent no matter how I was feeling about it. At first Mark suggested that I pray out loud to God right then and there. So I tried it but it resulted in about 2 minutes of pure silence. The silence was good though. It allowed me to settle down and listen to the spirit speak to me. By the end of the couple of minutes I was feeling led to a one-on-one appointment with the Lord. So I told the guys I was feeling that way and I left the room for the dark and empty sanctuary upstairs.

The moment I stepped foot into the sanctuary I could sense the presence of God. It was so comforting to feel even the slightest amount of the presence after such a drought. I then proceeded to walk up onto the stage up to the cross that is displayed in the front of the church. I got on my knees and just began to talk to God, expressing my desires and surrendering to Him. After I had finished I walked away still slightly unsure of what I had just experienced. But it wasn't more than a few seconds after that when the presence of the Lord came like light a lightning bolt to the top of my head. I felt His sweet presence for almost the entire walk back down to the room where the guys were. It was like a walk of confidence. Confidence that I was free from everything that I had been dealing with, free from my uncertainties, free from my sin, but most importantly free for the rest of my life from the devil's lie that I can't be forgiven or that repenting is a process that is not worth going through. Such a heavy burden was lifted off of my shoulders that night.

 Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. There's confidence involved on both ends of the spectrum here. Confidence to approach God's throne of grace and confidence that you will walk in that grace that has been given to you freely upon being forgiven.

I believe that what I experienced that night was the simplicity that is and always was made to be part of the process of receiving grace. All it takes is a yearning for the living God and humility. We can get so distracted and turned away from this but in the end it will always be a resounding truth. I think we can get a glimpse of this by reading James 4:5-10 (NIV) which says: 

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud 

but shows favor to the humble.”

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.  

Why would God make forgiveness a grueling process for us? He doesn't, satan does. You see, satan will try to severely distort what you think about even the most concrete and foundational elements of scripture and Christianity. He's sly and sneaky and wants nothing more than to take away from your relationship with God. But the Lord is stronger. He is, was, and always will be. Our pursuit of Him will always get us through whatever it is that we are going through in life, anything that satan throws at us. The pursuit of Him is the most important thing you can do for your spiritual well-being.

So if you have been struggling with this stuff I encourage you to meditate and pray on this: 

Let us APPROACH God's throne of grace with CONFIDENCE, So that we may RECEIVE mercy and FIND grace to HELP US in our time of need. I hope that this has helped any of you who have dealt with some of the same things I have. God bless.