Some days I watch TV and understand what ‘survival of the fittest’ is all about. Nations show their weapons and fighting power and determination to defeat the enemy, businesses compete for prominence in the market place; entertainers compete for awards, sports contests have a winner; talent shows, reality TV, quiz shows all reward the best.
In a world that honours strength, power, looking good, success and achievement many feel failures. They’re weary of the constant competition and comparison and being seen as losers. I came across these lyrics the other week:
I know that you’re tired
Can’t take another step
Weary from your travels
Feels like you lost your breath
When you just can’t stand
And you need a hand
There is another way that doesn’t depend on my abilities, fitness or achievements. The way of grace receives with gratitude what I can’t create myself. It says that there is an alternative to the way of self-sufficiency, popularity and power. I don’t have to be perfect or successful. I’ve been told many definitions of grace over the years. ‘Unmerited favour to the undeserving’… ‘Everything for nothing to those who don’t deserve anything’… In Sunday School I learnt the mnemonic ‘God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense’.
Grace will carry you
Grace will see you through
The darkest night, The hardest fight
The toughest trial, The longest mile
Grace will right the wrong
Grace will make you strong
And grace will lead you home.
We even turn being and doing good into a competition – who can raise the most money for a good cause, create the most worthy community enterprise, develop the most successful church.
Grace alone is sufficient. It takes me away from ‘look after number one,’ ‘get what I can’ mentality. I humbly receive undeserved riches, and as I receive I’m able to give, to love, to serve.
I can see you wondering
Your faith is hard to find
Lost in desperation
Just need some peace of mind
When you’ve lost your hope
All you need to know
Grace will carry you, Grace will see you through…
Oh, Grace that will hold you
Grace that is free
Grace that saved a wretch like me
Grace that’s so amazing.
Oh, Grace that will hold you
Grace that is free
Grace that saved a wretch like me
Grace that’s so amazing.
We’re brought back to ‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me’. John Newton, a slave ship captain being transformed by the presence and power of grace… being open to encounter it for myself… and being willing to let it change me too.
Grace will carry you, Grace will see you through
The darkest night, The hardest fight
The toughest trial, The longest mile
Grace will right the wrong, Grace will make you strong
And grace will lead you home
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