Indescribable Grace

Photo by Amelia Grace Photography

Indescribable Grace

ByDebra Courtney

“[All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24 AMP)

How would you respond if you heard something bad happened to someone who had been trying to harm you for several years? David for many years had been running from King Saul who had been trying to kill him. In a final battle with the Amalekites, a sword killed Saul. When the news reached David, instead of rejoicing that his enemy was no longer a problem for him, he responded in a totally different manner. He mourned. Wow, imagine that; he mourned over the very one who sought to kill him. 

It takes a person who’s heart has been put on the potter’s wheel and molded by the hands of God to not take matters into one’s own hands. One who knows what it is to give considerable pain and torment in the past to others. Where you now have to look past an individual who is the source of your pain and torment and consider how God views them. God looks upon that individual and sees their needs and knows why they respond the way they do. The enemy torments them to no end. When we begin to see people as God does, we'll no longer look at them as our enemies, but as blind, needy people in need of grace. Grace that in and of ourselves we could not give, but by the grace God gives us in turn helps us to give grace to people who spitefully hurt and abuse us. 

I dwell upon how Jesus gave His life for me. He saw my great need, not what I did to Him. When someone wrongs you, do you seek revenge, or do you pray to understand the need behind the offender's actions? 

For several years I watched a person who was a source of constant pain and used me and others to gain his own personal desires. He would tell us what we wanted to hear to gain his selfish desires, then when he got what he wanted he would do the exact opposite of what he said he would do. There was nothing I could do to change it. However, God allowed me to see beyond the person's actions, to understand what the source of his need was. When I gained that understanding, God gave me a picture of this person inside a prison cell of bondage. I pray for him and genuinely love him in spite of his persecution towards me. This is the kind of love Jesus wants us to have when He tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us. “But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”(Matthew 5:44 AMP)

Because I have been forgiven of horrendous sins, I believe God does a special work of amazing grace in lives of those who go beyond the realm of normal response to persecutions they find themselves in. He brings us to a level of grace we never thought possible. Because I have been forgiven of much, I can in return forgive much. It’s beyond explanation the indescribable grace that God has for us.

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What about you? How has your Heavenly Father communicated to your heart and mind about His desire that His grace be poured into you and then through you to others?

Is there anyone in your life that challenges you in greater ways than others? How can praying blessings over them cultivate grace in your own heart towards them?