Sunday, March 13, 2016

Approached by Grace

by Sarah Van Diest

I was approached by grace, and humility sensed its presence. It rose in me and leaned forward desiring to walk on the path grace paved, the bridge it built, from me to another.

It was graciousness she showed me. I don’t know where it came from; welled up from her soul, I suppose. It’s a lovely thing to see, and something folks don’t just manufacture, at least not this brand of graciousness. Maybe my feeling of humility that followed was the result of it being pulled up from its seat of resting where it had nested in me. Grace offers its hand to humility and helps it stand up. And then they walk together.

I am beginning to think one cannot have right humility without this grace piece. To be humble, in part, means to recognize one’s limitations or weaknesses. It means to understand that the self is not the answer to all things and that there is more out there than what is present within. Knowing this leads us to an edge; a cliff of sorts, where the self ends; drops off into nothingness. Beyond this cliff there is more. There are others. There is out there that which is not within. But how to reach that which is beyond? I believe grace is that bridge. Grace is the connecting of one man’s cliff to another’s; and from my cliff to God.

Grace is the thing that makes being humble not a bad thing, not defined by lack and incompleteness, but instead a catalyst for the creation and realization of something greater than what was as connections form and the self extends to another. Once on the other side of the bridge, humility meets humility, because I do not believe grace can be extended by one who does not possess humility in the first place.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” 2 Cor. 12:9.

I love that! “My grace” our Father says, coupled with our weakness, is how His power is perfected. Here, in writing to the church in Corinth, Paul is excited about this thought! He will boast gladly about his weaknesses! He sees his limitations as the blessing they are. He sees the end of himself, the edge of himself, as a wonderful thing to have come to.

He doesn’t have to search anymore.

He doesn’t have to strive anymore.

He has found what he was looking for.

And the grace God brings to bridge the gap from Paul’s weakness to Himself is the freedom Paul was longing to find all those years as a zealot. All those years of striving, pushing, and driving himself to be perfected in the flesh came to a beautiful climactic end.

Paul’s message to those in Corinth, and to so many others, is to see our weaknesses, acknowledge our limitations, comprehend the edge of ourselves, and allow grace to offer its hand to us in our humility and help us stand up.

I do not tell you who she was or precisely how she showed me grace. She walked up to me, stepping out from her place of comfort, recognized my vulnerability, and offered her hand of help. And because I was already aware of my need, my lack, I was ready to accept her assistance. Probably without knowing it, she lifted my heart from where it was and from how it was: stuck. Her grace picked me up and moved me.

This is how it works. This is how we meet one another. This is how we come together.

In humility.

With grace.

Dear reader, if you are stuck, if you are trapped by your failures, your weaknesses, or your limitations, let grace walk with you across the path it paved, the bridge it built, and hand in hand, walk in freedom to the Lord and to those around you. The life lived in fear and bondage, the heart ruled by law and restriction, longs for the joy Paul found. Weakness, and the humble heart, is the cry grace hears and comes to, responds to, and reaches out to.

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” James 4:6.


Humility is the sweet invitation that gentle grace waits for.

Sarah has worked in Christian publishing since 2005 as both an editor and an agent.

Currently, she works with her husband, David, in their agency, the Van Diest Literary Agency. Writing is a growing passion for her as she hopes to bring hope to hurting hearts.

16 comments:

  1. Beautiful, Sarah. I acknowledge and apply His grace moment by moment. I love 2 Corinthians 9:8 "He is able to make all grace abound to you, so that is all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" We serve an awesome God. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Amen, Cherrilynn. We serve an awesome God! I just had to repeat your words!
      Many blessings and much grace,
      Sarah

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  2. Sarah. Your words clearly reveal the heart of God. What joy to be in the hand of God. A prideful bird will fly away, but a humble, trembling bird will stop fighting to rest in that hand until the two hearts are beating as one. The picture of peace: weakness in the hand of Strength. Blessings. Writing to you from a yielded heart.

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    1. Christine,
      What a beautiful image. I love it. Thank you for sharing it!
      Many blessings!
      Sarah

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  3. Blessed my socks off reading this this morning, Sarah. I want to print it out and tuck a copy into my Grace and Humility scrapbook journal. Feasting on these words today.
    Joy!
    Kathy

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    1. I'm so glad to hear it, Miss Kathy! So, you really have a Grace and Humility scrapbook journal? Wow. How cool!
      Joy to you as well!
      Sarah

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  4. Blessed my socks off reading this this morning, Sarah. I want to print it out and tuck a copy into my Grace and Humility scrapbook journal. Feasting on these words today.
    Joy!
    Kathy

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    1. I doubly thankful for your words! :) Not unhappy to receive them twice! Hehe!
      Blessings, Miss Kathy!
      Sarah

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  5. Thanks for writing. I understand you wanted to express something universal. But as a reader, I wish you had told the specifics of what had transpired.

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    1. Thank you, Nancy. Yeah, some times we have to choose what we can include and what we have to exclude. Where's Paul Harvey when you need him? Hehe.
      Many blessings,
      Sarah

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  6. Beautifully said, Sarah. In reading you piece, I recalled the time when I humbled myself and immediately received grace from Him.

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    1. Thank you, Bruce. He is faithful, yes? I hope we get to see you in May at Blue Ridge. That would be a good thing. :)
      Blessings,
      Sarah

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  7. This is a beautiful post, Sarah. Others have already commented using those words, but those are the most fitting. However, it is also wise and takes us beyond today to the deep. Deep calls to deep. My spirit is stirred and the writer in me wants to write! Now, that is a great piece of art. Keep on keepin' on. ~Andy

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    1. Wow. Thank you, Andy. "Deep calls to deep." Isn't that amazing! I love how our Father works and how He made us to work in concert with Him and each other. It's just all so awesome!
      Go write!
      Blessings,
      Sarah

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  8. I cannot tell you how much this blessed me today. And, its timing perfect for what I am facing as I prepare messages to share at a women's leadership retreat. I have been feeling undone--inadequate? Fearful? Filled with self. I love your words...It's that fine balance between total and utter dependence and the bold confidence scripture tells about when "they had been with Jesus"
    Thank you, thank you.

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    1. Wow, Jeanne! I am humbled! Ha! And that's what this is all about, isn't it? That God works through our weakness! Oh, praise Him!!!!
      Thank you for sharing and lifting my heart today.
      Blessed and thankful!
      Sarah

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