Have you ever tried to understand the complete meaning of grace? I mean, really wrap your mind about everything that is included in God’s grace?
It is everything we don’t deserve.
It is every good thing the Creator gives us in our earthly life: Friends. Breath every day. Health. Flowers. Music. Sunshine. Kittens. Chocolate. Children… That is grace. It is everything the Most High God is to us: My Savior. My Rock and Refuge. My Strength and Shield. My Salvation. My Sustainer. My Father… That is grace. It is everything our Eternal God does for us: He is ever present with me. He delights in me. He delivers me from sin. He loves me with His steadfast, faithful love – regardless of my performance. He strengthens me with His power in my weakness… That is grace.
The mind of an anxious person is always looking ahead into the future. In his book, Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest, Edward T. Welsh calls worriers “false prophets” because worry constantly tries to predict the future. “Anxiety asks for more information so it can be prepared for the coming apocalypse. It also asks for more information so it can manage the world apart from God.” This is a scary reality. An anxious mind doesn’t trust the Lord. An anxious mind wants to be in control.
“There is one bit of data that worriers never factor into their false prophecies. It is this: We will receive grace in the future.” Anxiety forgets that God gives us grace for each day. We have grace for each moment today, and we will have grace for each moment tomorrow. God always provides exactly what we need right when we need it. When trying to predict the future, we don’t imagine the grace that will be given.
But bad things can still happen. “God does not promise grace that removes hardships.” But He does promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Today, I cannot try to figure out what God’s grace will look like tomorrow.
“When we try to imagine grace in some future situations, we might still be resting in ourselves. We want specific confirmation that there will be grace, and we want to calm ourselves by not trusting in the Gracious One but in seeing the future.” When we try to imagine grace for tomorrow, we limit God to the size of our own imaginations.