I subscribe to a daily marriage tip that comes to my email each day and have been a member for several years now. The tip always has a suggestion that is positive to encourage, improve, help, give ideas to, or just pray about your marriage or family. Yesterday it talked about grace and it got me to thinking, so I thought since today I have a few mintues to myself (yes this comes very seldom :)) I would type a few words on grace that have been on my heart since reading this post.
Grace.....the exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor on man *Webster's Dictionary
Once I heard it said, Grace is God giving us more than we deserve, and Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve.
How much grace does He give us daily?.......TONS! So many times we fail, we mess up, we slip with our tongue or we lose our patience, or we do something very imperfect. But God does not expect us to be perfect and he knows we will fail. But does He blow up at us, or holler at us, or turn His back on us, or even dislke us because of our mistakes or imperfections? No, He gives us forgiveness and grace.
His word says......But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Jer. 18:4
God everyday takes the clay that we are and He reshapes it into what He wants it to be. He knows that today I will grow impatient for one of my children's mishaps, or that I will not respect my husband like He wants me to, or that I will not spend the time needed in prayer because of my priorities....or the list goes on and on, but He is the potter and He gives us grace everyday.
Likewise, He does the same for our children and our spouses. They mess up, and they are not perfect, but way too often we expect them to be. We fuss because they drop something, or we nag because they were late, or they forgot something you asked of them, and they are clay full of flaw like us. But why is it that we show such little grace to them, when our Father shows so much more grace than we deserve?
Wow...I stopped and thought about how little I do show grace to my family. God allows me to make mistakes, and He allows me to mess up, and return He loves me. He forgives me. He does not fuss at me. He does not nag. He does not speak negatively of me. He does not turn His back on me. He loves me. He gives me grace. And He forgives and forgets when I ask.
So today...I decided I would try to give more grace. I can't even imagine being able to give what God does, but am I even trying to give a little? I am excited to see how different life will be for me, I am sure for my family, but for me, to know that I have a husband and children who are not perfect, and that is okay, and I can look over the spilt milk, and the forgotten fix its, and the laundry on the floor.
Life is so short, and the little pitter patters and toys on the floor will one day be replaced with quietness and dust bunnies, so instead of getting upset over the little things, give grace, and remember they are clay, and it is marred and a mess like you.....
Today, I am blessed, so blessed.......
Isaiah 64:8Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
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