I’ve noticed
lately that when I pray I tend to repeat the same few phrases over and over, in
each of my prayers. For example, when speaking to God I tend to ask, “Lord, won’t
you lead me down the paths you want me to go”.
Another favorite request is: “Lend
me your strength and determination.” But the one catchphrase I seem to use, in
my prayers, more than any other is this one: “Father, please rain down your
Grace on me”.
I wondered, what
does it mean to ask for God’s Grace?
Let’s look at
what the word Grace actually means.
One
definition of Grace, in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is: The free and unmerited favor of God, as
manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. I
read on in the dictionary: Simple elegance or refinement of movement.
“She
moved through the water with effortless grace”.
Synonyms: elegance, poise,
gracefulness and finesse.
That
certainly explains why I need to ask for God’s
Grace.
In my walk with him—being an imperfect being—I find myself to be
anything but elegant, poised or graceful. I am in constant need of his unmerited
favor.
Recently,
while out shopping I found myself in line at the cash register behind a young woman whose appearance
was a little out of my own personal comfort zone; she made me feel awkward and
uncomfortable.
I’m just being honest.
She wore her hair in a bright, neon yellow Mohawk.
She had piercings covering both ears—from top to bottom. She also had metal in
her nose, her lip, her eyebrow and chin (ouch!). Her entire body (what was
visible—which was a lot) was a canvas of tattoo ink. Her skirt BARELY covered
her rear-end and her heels were so high the sole of her foot was as high as my
knee!
I found
myself judging her, I made the assumption that she
was a “bad girl” and I wondered how horrible her childhood must have been to make
her feel the need to “act out” in this manner.
I was mentally clucking my tongue and feeling sorry for her poor
family as she was being served by the cashier. At the end of their transaction
she said to the young lady behind the counter, “God bless! I hope you have a
great day, sister!” The cashier responded in kind and as the Mohawked, tattooed
young lady walked away she called out to all of us, “God is so good, isn’t he?
I know he’s been good to me!”
How small did
I feel? So small I wanted to crawl into the nearest ant hole and pull the hole
in after me!
How dare I
assume that because someone doesn’t look like me they should be considered “bad” or “odd”! Who am I to set the
standard? Why should there be a standard at all?
Each of us is
beautiful to God—despite our outward appearance, despite our sinful natures and
despite our own standardized morality. He doesn’t love us because we fit into a
mold labeled “righteous”. He loves of for who we are—even though we’re
impractical, impulsive, impatient and imperfect. Thank God!
Whoever you are faced with this week remember to accept them for who they are, not who you think they are or who you think they should be. Each of us is a child of God--even those who may not recognize it or know it. He loves us all...let's try to remember to love each other!
Lord, rain
down Grace on me today!
