As a supposedly responsible adult, do you ever feel like someone forgot to tell you how to be one? A selfhelp book and a few bumper-stickered Bible verses later and you feel semi equipped to navigate another day but the second you stop to think about it, the uncomfortable knowledge that you have no idea what you’re doing might just overwhelm you. If you look deeper, the root is probably the fear of “getting it wrong”. From the smallest decisions in parenting to the major choice of career, it’s a jungle out there and you’re pretty sure you’re lost (and possibly on the menu!). Promotional phrases like “you only have one life” and “better not waste it” haven’t exactly helped any of us to confidently make our life choices and face the consequences. But maybe that’s just me.
If it does happen to you too, I’d like to share something recently discovered in the pages of my far-too-unfrequented study Bible and the sage interpretation of people immeasurably more knowledgeable than I: Grace means go.
God in His infinite wisdom has crafted the ultimate safety-net for those who seek Him. The foundational layer of that net is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross – for you, removing all fear of the only truly terrifying thing: not spending an eternity with God (1 John 4:17). The second layer is found in the certainty that God graciously helps those who try to do the right thing - even if our attempts come out deformed, ignorant and profoundly inadequate (Gen 20:6 and Acts 10:4 – the stories of Abimelech and Cornelius, to name a few). The last layer, the one I find to be of particular encouragement today, is that the Bible defines a strong community as one that allows for each other’s faults (Eph. 4:2). Being quick to say sorry and quick to forgive is such a simple thing, yet a hard one – I know. But perhaps the brand new animation “Jungle Beat: The Movie”, has a point in it’s simple portrayal of forgiveness for a betrayal by one member of their newly founded little community in the African bush.
Grace means go. What could we have to fear when we know there’s a sturdy net lovingly waiting to catch us when we inevitably fall? I’m convinced the net is infinitely more profound than my 3-layered interpretation but it’s a start. I encourage you to keep seeking the inexhaustible depths and breaths of God’s gracious and all-consuming love for you while you explore this beautiful supposedly adult life like the responsible one you are: with childlike exuberance!
25 June 2020
MK Wiggett
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