Grace

Ephesians 2:4-9
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

I recently became aware of a great example of grace. A person I know forgave someone, even though that person did not deserve it. She did that, because she understood the concept of grace, because she has received grace from Christ.

Grace is all about getting something you don't deserve, because of the kindness and/or generosity of the grace-giver. When someone wrongs you, and you forgive them and move on, you are practicing grace. It's much easier to do when you have experienced it yourself. You can overlook the faults of someone else when the feeling of freedom that accompanies grace is fresh in your mind.

All of us have been offered grace, whether we accept it or not. The ultimate example of grace is God sending His Son to earth, to die on the cross, to pay for our sins. You may have heard the acronym for grace: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. God wants to have a relationship with us, but our sin prevents it. He sent Jesus, who was perfect, to pay for our sins, because we could not pay that debt.

When you've been given grace, there is a tremendous feeling of freedom. It's not the freedom to keep doing what you were doing that required grace. It's the freedom to do the right thing, to respond to the gift and to pass grace to someone else.

How does this relate to Tammy's journey? It's pretty simple. Thousands of people around the world have been praying for Tammy to recover. They were earnest prayers, prayed through love, to the God who loves Tammy more than any of us can imagine. But He didn't have to say "Yes." He could have displayed His power and glory by taking Tammy home, and He would have been glorified by her peace throughout. But He granted her grace in a physical way and has brought her through to this point. All indications are that a complete recovery is very possible. But that's only through His grace.