The Persistence of Grace

When Grace is Persistent

by Aaron Schulman 

There are times when Grace is persistent – she won’t stop until she knows she has my attention.  Usually, it’s more than my attention that she is after – she wants my response.  When Grace is persistent, she is after something – some kind of response from Daddy.

            Grace wants my attention at times for many things.  Sometimes she wants to interrupt me to ask me if I am “ok”.  Sometimes she wants me to step to the side and sit down and just cuddle up next to her.  Other times, she is persistently telling me something that she wants and won’t relent until I deliver it to her.

            Though God’s Grace is quite different than a two year old little girl named Grace, I can’t help but be overwhelmed at times by the profound life parallels that are revealed to me.  Today, I saw Grace’s persistence and it reminded me of God’s persistence.

            When I am tired, weary, slipping and faltering in my walk, and I cannot sense God’s relentless pursuit of me, I am reminded all around that God’s stance, posture or purpose of Grace is persistent toward me, never ending, never failing and never turning His Heart, Eyes or Love away from me.

            Often times I am reminded of my fears.  They creep up on me and are very intent at stealing away precious moments, hours, days, relationships, and the very quality of abundant life that Christ came to offer to me daily as a gift.  When I slip back into my fears, it is the persistence of God’s Grace that rescues me.

            God’s persistent Grace toward me began far before I will ever understand (see Psalm 139).  His plan of persistent Grace was provided before I was born.  His plan of persistent Grace was made available when he conquered death through the Cross and rose again to give me forgiveness and everlasting life in exchange for my brokenness and wayward heart.  His persistent Grace always frees me when I am troubled and chained.

            The Word says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NIV), and I am reminded once again, that God loved me while I was His enemy.  It is in times of distress and turmoil that God’s persistent Grace drives this Truth home to my heart in the darkest of personal storms:

“Remembering that God loved me while I was His enemy, all the more His Love will not fail now that I am a redeemed Son!”

            For some reason (perhaps because I am still human), I am easily shaken at times, and forget who God is and how big He really is.  I also forget that in His “bigness” He also has a never-ending resource of persistent Grace that flows into my life: when I was His enemy, and now and forever as His son – His response is always Grace. 

            It is easy to forget all that God has already done out of pure Love for me, and it is easy to forget that His resources are persistent, never-ending, and never failing.  Sometimes it is easy to get wrapped up in the smallness of my thinking or other men’s tainted thoughts and limited understanding, when I begin to interpret circumstances with an underlying assumption that “God doesn’t have to prove Himself to me any more.”  Sometimes I hear the haunting echoes of “religious speak” that is more certainly rooted in self-righteous religious and historical dogma than in the reality of God’s heart toward me when I hear:

“What would you do if God stopped showing that He loves you and quit providing for you?” 

            I used to get caught in a tangled fury of fear when this thought would creep in feeding the illusion of  a dark reality that my mind is capable of creating.  However, the more God proves His provision and intentions toward me as the only perfect Father anyone will ever have, the more I am learning to believe that His persistent Grace will never stop proving His Love, Provision, Protection and Persistent Grace toward me: The longer I live and experience His Persistent Grace, the more my small, human tainted etchings of a tiny-frivolous and whimsical “father-god” get replaced while Truth is painted on the canvas of my life, heart and mind with the Divine brush strokes of the Master Painter, Author of Love, Giver of Eternal Life, and the God of Persistent Grace.  

Questions for Reflection – Exploring the depths of God’s Grace:

1) List some memories and seasons of your life that were both terribly hard and others that were wonderfully joyful and easy.  How does the image of God’s Persistent Grace reveal that He was active for your good and His Glory in both kinds of seasons?  (Take your time)

2)  Do you ever get caught up in certain fearful patterns of thought and mood?  Are you running so hard that you are still unable to recognize that you have fears?  Do you get stuck in the world of “what ifs” with God?  Go back and read Romans 5:8 and ask God to comfort you with this Truth of persistent Grace.

3)  We are often only capable of seeing our Heavenly Father through the tainted lenses of our earthy relationships, especially those of Fatherly influence.  Sometimes we see God as angry and aloof.  Other times we see Him as quiet and distant.  Other times we see Him as good and loving toward us “as long as we (fill in the blank)”.  We have all made our image and understanding of God as Father somehow incredibly limited because of our experience through other faulty human beings.  What persistent images do you have of “God as Father” that you are uncomfortable with, or that you know are wrong based on scripture, but are unable to break out of your heart and conscious?  List your wrong understandings of God you that have been painted on the canvas of your life, heart and mind and begin to ask God to break these away and repaint them with His Persistent Grace, Love and Truth.