Why do I believe I am surrounded by God’s grace?
Part 7: A return to grace and so to fullness of life
Through turning briefly to the problem of evil, we have taken something of an emotional downturn, when we had been talking about the wonderful grace of God. However, it’s important not to hide from difficult questions, and I hope you can see that there is a way forward to embrace a belief in God’s surrounding grace while being completely clear-headed in accepting all of the reality of living in the world as we know it. In fact, it is the desire to accept all of reality which drives me to consider grace, for this is the key reality of life that I and so many others experience.
So, let us finish by returning to add just a little more, for, although it may seem as though I have gone on and on about grace, my feeling is that I am just tinkering around the edges, saying a few worthwhile snippets, but still failing to express adequately the heart of God’s grace – as will always be the case.
I will begin by combining the ideas of suffering with trust in grace, by stating that an essential part of living by grace is optimism. This aspect of grace allows that complete clarity about existence to lead us to live, not fearfully, not downcast, not in dread of the disasters that can so easily befall us, but full of hope and optimism. Dame Julian of Norwich’s great watchword was, “All will be well”, which is ludicrous, for all is not well. Yet, when we allow our faith to bring us into a sense of being surrounded by the grace of God then all IS well. It makes no sense but is true. Such a comment is not blind faith or self-delusion – my entire faith (and blog) is based on trying to reason about our faith. So, it is not so much a contradiction, though certainly a paradox, but most of all it is testament to the amazingly powerful grace of God which has the ability to make all things well, to fill us with a sense of perfect fulfilment, and to bring us to a sense of being completely at home – and all this, no matter what happens to us in the world.
The other aspect of grace to touch on is humility. I feel that this is a key spiritual grace. To large degree, the problem is that those who suffer from its opposite – arrogance – are likely to commend themselves for their abilities in making progress in the world, while the humble person is aware of their dependence on God. In giving him the credit, somehow all the goodness of the situation we are in, and which we are creating, is redoubled upon us. In contrast, the arrogant person is simply left with their brittle self-satisfaction, which has all the refreshing qualities of dust. Humble people do need to work hard not to be weak, so self-effacing that they are no use in the world, or resigned to sitting on the sidelines. Part of the work of grace is to call us to mission and action, and then to empower us to achieve those tasks that God has laid upon us.
So, here we believers are. Humbly trusting in God’s grace, full of hope and joy as we set out to work for God’s kingdom. As we experience ourselves to be surrounded by grace, it is so much easier to work gracefully for the extension of more grace in the world, for we are simply taking hold of what is self-evidently to us all around us and using it to produce more of the same.
Grace makes us so much more than we naturally are. It does not obliterate or over-ride our natural personality and gifts – that would be to deny the worth of God’s creation. Instead, God takes hold of who we are, and through imparting spiritual gifts – and a much better way to express this is: through his indwelling Spirit – shapes and builds and directs and enables our growing spirit or personality so that we grow up according to the potential that God placed in us through his unique creation of each person. A crucial aspect is that he continually heals and redeems our developing personality from the wounds that our failures (sins) inflict upon ourselves, and the damage from the wounds that others inflict on us. A clear analogy is of a plant, which when well-watered and nourished and protected has the ability to grow to a certain height and pattern and produce the appropriate fruit, but if denied all these good things might become a withered and twisted version of that plant and produce nothing of worth. By grace, we rejoice in the way God is nurturing us, protected by humility and hope, robustly dealing with the trials and tribulations of life. We become the best person we could possibly be. God is not forcing a template onto us to produce clones of some religious ideal. Part of his grace is the unique creativity and unfailing love that gives freedom to countless people to live their lives as they wish, but by his calling of us, enables each person to produce the unique creativity that God sees we have in us.
Thus, we find ourselves whole, healed, forgiven, resting in the loving care of God, actively and joyfully striving to stay in step with God’s Spirit. We are reconciled with one another, in the fellowship of God’s people, to build his kingdom here on earth, enfolded in the peace of God. This is what it means to be surrounded by God’s grace.
Spiritual Devotion 