This reflection originally appeared in Daily Grace: The Mockingbird Devotional, Vol. 2:
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (Jas 1:17)
Grace is not always guaranteed to work on the horizontal plane — that is, as we attempt to generously give grace in the midst of our relationships. We can, however, be sure that grace is always at work. We don’t get to define what this has to look like. We don’t always get the privilege of discerning its results or activity. In fact, grace specializes in disappointing and confounding our expectations of what God and His people “should be.”
The gospel confronts our self-righteousness and confirms the righteousness of Jesus as being ours. You’re free, though you often feel like a slave. You’re forgiven, though you often feel the weight of judgment. You’re victorious, though you often feel like a chump. We walk by faith, not by sight, yes, but rarely in an experiential or functional manner.
Most of the time, grace is extremely impractical. In many cases, it is probably not in your best interest to extend grace toward another person — if you’re like me and you desperately want life and relationships to stay safe, comfortable, and problem-free. Sometimes, we give people grace and they still don’t change. Sometimes, we’re gracious toward our enemies and they still retaliate. Sometimes (or maybe often), we concede in our relationships and people still take advantage of us. And we resent it, even though we know we should “count it all as joy.”
God doesn’t guarantee that if we “apply the gospel” to our lives, we’ll always see the results we want, but He does promise that in Christ, we are always bearing fruit. Grace doesn’t always fix the problem, but grace can use a difficult circumstance to change us.
And yet, there are times when grace leaves us broken. God doesn’t always intervene when life and relationships create dissonance (though I wish He would). But Christ is alive to intercede for the forgiveness of our sins.
Ultimately, the generous gift our Father gives is the word of the gospel implanted in our hearts, working in tandem with the indwelling Spirit, articulating the incredibly ridiculous verdict that never changes: You are absolved.
